Switzerland approves Novavax’s Covid vaccine for 12-18 year olds

Keystone / Matthias Balk

Swiss medical regulator Swissmedic has approved Novavax’s Nuvaxovid Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 12-18 years. The greenlight has also been given for its use as a booster for adults, ahead of an anticipated rise in infections this winter.

“Nuvaxovid, the Covid-19 vaccine from Novavax, is now approved for young people aged 12 and over with immediate effect,” Swissmedic said in a statementExternal link on Friday.

The approval is for the vaccine’s two-dose series of 50ml per dose, Swissmedic said. These are administered at an interval of three weeks, it added.

The Swiss medical regulator had approved the protein-based Nuvaxovid vaccine for adults in April, making it the fourth Covid-19 vaccine authorised in the country. The others are mRNA vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna and a viral vector vaccine from Johnson & Johnson.

According to Swissmedic, the Nuvaxovid vaccine contains a non-infectious component from the surface of the SaRS-CoV-2 virus, which triggers a protective immune response when the body’s immune cells come into contact with it. The vaccine contains an adjuvant to strengthen the immune response. It can be stored in a refrigerator for up to nine months. 

It made its debut well after the first set of Covid-19 shots – including those from Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson – were approved in different parts of the world.

The hope was Nuvaxovid would incentivise people who were sceptical of some shots based on the newer mRNA technology to get vaccinated, given Nuvaxovid relies on technology that has been used for decades to combat diseases including hepatitis B and influenza. However, demand has been tepid.

Covid situation in Switzerland

So far, 69% of the Swiss population have been fully vaccinated against the virus.

Earlier this week Swissmedic gave temporary approval for a Covid-19 vaccine from Moderna that has been adapted to give protection against two different strains of the virus.

In view of the increase in cases in early summer 2022, the Swiss authorities recommended on July 5 that over-80s and vulnerable people should get a Covid booster shot. A similar recommendation for the rest of the adult population is expected in autumn.

Following a drop in cases, the number of new infections rose again between May and early July due to two new Omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5. This latest wave has begun to subside. The health office reported 15,302 new Covid cases on August 30 for the previous seven-day period, down 10.1% on the previous week. There were 168 new hospital admissions and 17 reported deaths.