Reports indicate that early-stage clinical trial results show the Covid-19 vaccine candidate made by Novavax is safe and elicits an immune response, according to a study published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. The results had previously been announced by the company in early August. At 35 days, NVX-CoV2373 appeared to be safe, and it elicited immune responses that exceeded levels in Covid-19 convalescent serum, reads part of the studys conclusion. It is reported that using a randomized, placebo-controlled trial, scientists gave the vaccine or a placebo, an inert substance like saline, to 131 healthy adults in May. Eighty-three people got the vaccine with adjuvant, an agent to boost the bodys immune response. Another 25 got the vaccine without the booster and 23 got the placebo. Participants also received a second injection 21 days after the first. After randomization, 83 participants were assigned to receive the vaccine with adjuvant and 25 without adjuvant, and 23 participants were assigned to receive placebo. No serious adverse events were noted. The volunteers came from two locations in Australia and they were all under the age of 60. People who had Covid-19 or who had recovered from Covid-19 were excluded from the trial.
