The EMA on Monday recommended Novavax for authorisation in the EU Photo: Shutterstock

The EMA on Monday recommended Novavax for authorisation in the EU Photo: Shutterstock

The European Medicines Agency on Monday approved the Novavax coronavirus vaccine for use in the EU, making it the fifth formula recommended in the bloc to prevent covid-19.

The EMA granted so-called conditional marketing authorisation for the vaccine, known as Nuvaxovid, for people aged 18 or over.

“After a thorough evaluation, EMA’s human medicines committee concluded by consensus that the data on the vaccine were robust and met the EU criteria for efficacy, safety and quality,” the regulator said in a statement.

The efficacy is around 90%, with the alpha and beta strains circulating the most during trials, but limited data is available for other variants of concern, including omicron, the EMA said.

The European Commission has already signed a contract with Novavax for 200 million doses of its vaccine.

Luxembourg has put in an order of 30,215 doses, health minister Paulette Lenert (LSAP) said in answer to a last month.

The Novavax jab is a so-called subunit vaccine, which contain purified pieces of the pathogen, selected specifically for their ability to stimulate immune cells. The fragments used are incapable of causing disease.

Popular vaccines against hepatitis B, acellular pertussis and pneumococcal disease also use this technology.

Novavax joins Pfizer/Biontech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson to receive EMA approval. However, only the Pfizer/Biontech formula is approved for use in children from the age of 5.