COVID-19 | Ottawa will not order protein-based Novavax vaccine

(Toronto) The Public Health Agency of Canada announced it will not supply Novavax’s protein-based COVID-19 vaccine for this respiratory virus season, citing low demand in the past for the type of vaccine.

The federal agency says the manufacturer requires a minimum order of its updated vaccine, called Nuvaxovid, and that minimum far exceeds Canadians’ consumption of the protein-based vaccine last year.

The agency recalls that a tiny part (4%) of the doses ordered in 2023 have been administered and that it wishes to limit vaccine waste.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is distributing two mRNA vaccines, made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which are approved for adults and children six months and older. These two vaccines have been reformulated to target the Omicron KP.2 subvariant that is circulating these days.

Novavax’s vaccine, approved by Health Canada last month for adults and children aged 12 and older, has been touted as an alternative to mRNA vaccines. The federal agency says provinces and territories can order the vaccine, which has been updated to target Omicron’s JN.1 subvariant, directly from Novavax.

On Tuesday afternoon, several provinces, including Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, confirmed to The Canadian Press that They were not placing orders for the Nuvaxovid vaccine.

The Public Health Agency of Canada explains in an email that its contract with Novavax “only provides access to vaccines manufactured domestically, which Novavax has not been able to confirm for the 2024-2025 season” . However, the minimum order requirement was based on the purchase of Novavax vaccines “produced abroad,” the agency adds.

“Demand for the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine in Canada has been very low in previous years,” specifies the public health agency. “In 2023, 125,000 doses of the Novavax XBB.1.5 vaccine were ordered and were available in Canada, but only 5,529 doses were administered. »

In emails to The Canadian Press, Novavax confirmed it was producing its updated vaccine outside of Canada. She said the company was “significantly dependent on its supply agreement with Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd,” but declined to give further details.