The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has voted to recommend emergency use of Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine.
The CDC recommendation comes after the FDA authorized Novavax's vaccine for emergency use.
It's a new option for unvaccinated adults 18 and older. Over 170 countries use Novavax already.
Dr. Kim Onufrak with the County City Health Department said Novavax is your traditional vaccine in how they make it.
Vaccines for hepatitis B, shingles, pertusis even some flu vaccines use the same technology.
Onufrak said some people were hesitant to get the Moderna, Pfizer, or Johnson and Johnson vaccines because they were created with newer MRNA technology but, the technology used to make the Novavax vaccine has been around for 30 years and, she said it's just as safe.
Dr. Onufrak said Novavax uses spike protein, to create an immune response.
"And they use an adjuvant which is an immune booster made from root beer bark to help bring it into the body to spark that strong immune response," said Onufrak.
The Novavax shot is given in two doses, three weeks apart, similar to Pfizer. She said it has your typical side effects such as fatigue, pain at the injection site, and fever.
Before shots can be administered, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky still needs to sign off on the recommendation.
If she does, it would become the fourth Coronavirus vaccine available in the U.S.
