European authorisation System has proven helpful for the new company / first doses are leaving the distribution centre in the Netherlands in these minutes

“The new vaccine of Novavax can help to convince people that have not been ready to get vaccinated so far because it is based on a more traditional procedure and helps to speed up the vaccination campaign in low- and middle- income countries.” This concluded the health spokesperson of the biggest group in the European Parliament (EPP Christian Democrats), Peter Liese after a videoconference with the company.

Novavax announced the start of shipments of its vaccine that has already been approved in Europe at the end of last year. “I strongly defend the European authorisation system and all vaccines that get conditional marketing authorisation are safe. The benefits by far outweigh the risks. However, some people have unfortunately not yet been vaccinated because they do not trust the m-RNA and/or the vector technology. They now have an alternative with the protein-based vaccine of Novavax. On top of that, Novavax has much less demanding criteria for storage and the cold chain. That is why it is a good alternative for low- and middle-income countries”, announced Liese.

“He has been in contact with the company for almost one year because he has been impressed by the clinical data of the company. The company has made significant progress over the past two years, and is now bringing the first protein-based vaccine to Europe. Novavax appreciates the continued partnership with the European Commission and EMA. “Especially as a young and quiet small company, they benefitted from the European System, which prevented them from having to negotiate with 27 individual countries”, concluded Liese.”