Editorial: First Approval of the Protein-Based Adjuvanted Nuvaxovid (NVX-CoV2373) Novavax Vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 Could Increase Vaccine Uptake and Provide Immune Protection from Viral Variants

The Nuvaxovid™ (NVX-CoV2373) Novavax vaccine is a recombinant spike (S) protein nanoparticle vaccine combined with the Matrix-M adjuvant. On December 20, 2021, the European Commission of the European Union (EU) granted conditional marketing authorization for the Nuvaxovid™ (NVX-CoV2373) Novavax vaccine, following recommendations from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). On February 3, 2022, this vaccine was granted conditional marketing authorization (CMA) in Great Britain by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for use in individuals ≥18 years. The two vaccine components elicit both B-lymphocyte and T-lymphocyte immune responses to the S protein of SARS-CoV-2. The full-length S protein in this vaccine has common epitopes that could protect against all the SARS-CoV-2 viral variants. Also, the vaccine is stable and has a shelf life of 9 months when stored at standard refrigerated temperatures of between 2–8°C. This Editorial aims to present an update on the first approval of a protein-based adjuvanted vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, Nuvaxovid (NVX-CoV2373) from Novavax, and why it is such a significant development at this time.