Health
Novavax and mRNA vaccines – Approach, production, storage, and more
Vaccines are biological preparations aimed at providing active, acquired immunity to an infectious or malignant disease. In the past few years, mRNA and Novavax vaccines have been administered to control the spread of the coronavirus. mRNA and Novavax vaccines have garnered significant attention for their efficacy and rapid development. This article attempts to shed light on the Novavax vaccine and highlights the key differences that set it apart from mRNA vaccines. Novavax’s approach Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine, known as NVX-CoV2373 or simply Novavax, is built upon a different platform than the mRNA vaccine. It belongs to a category of vaccines called protein subunits. The fundamental principle of protein subunit vaccines is to introduce a harmless part of the virus into the body to stimulate an immune response without causing the infection. In the case of Novavax, the vaccine is formulated using a small piece of the spike protein found on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is responsible for facilitating entry into human cells. This spike protein is produced in the lab and serves as the antigen, which triggers an immune response. The immune system recognizes this foreign protein as a potential threat and develops antibodies against it. These antibodies are then ready to neutralize the spike protein if the person is later exposed to the actual virus.
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