FDA advisers recommend agency approve fourth COVID vaccine option Novavax

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted Tuesday to recommend that the agency authorize Novavax as a fourth COVID-19 vaccine option for adults. 

Novavax, a traditional protein vaccine, is already in use in Australia, Canada, parts of Europe and elsewhere, according to the Associated Press.

FDA vaccine head Dr. Peter Marks said the new vaccine may encourage those who have not taken the COVID shot to consider doing so.

"We do have a problem with vaccine uptake that is very serious in the United States," he said. "Anything we can do to get people more comfortable to accept these potentially life-saving products is something that we feel we are compelled to do."

The panel voted 21-0 with one abstention to recommend that the FDA approve the Novavax shot.

Novavax is different from other COVID vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna that provide genetic instructions to the body while the Johnson and Johnson vaccine uses a cold virus.