A new Covid-19 vaccine has been approved for use in Ireland today.
People over the age of 18 will be able to get the Nuvaxovid jab, the fifth vaccine to be approved for use in this country.
The European Medicines previously granted conditional marketing authorisation for Novavax’s vaccine which is also called NVX-CoV2373.
Today, the Minister for Health accepted new recommendations about the new jab from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) and Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan.
Minister Stephen Donnelly said that the new vaccine was a welcome addition to the vaccine programme and thanked members of NIAC for their hard work.
He said: "I welcome this update to our booster vaccination programme, and I would like to sincerely thank all of the members of the NIAC for their continued work in support of Ireland’s COVID-19 Vaccination Programme.
“This is the fifth COVID-19 vaccine authorised for use in Ireland and is a welcome addition to our vaccination programme as it provides another option for adults who remain unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.
"This particular vaccine, Nuvaxovid, is a spike protein-based vaccine, and is the first COVID-19 vaccine to be approved that is based on that used in existing vaccines with which we are very familiar including Hepatitis B and whooping cough."
Mr Donnelly assured people that Nuvaxovid is highly effective and encouraged those who have not received their first dose to come forward.
He said: “The vaccine has been shown to be highly effective in preventing symptomatic, moderate and severe disease.
"We expect the vaccine to be available next month, and I would urge the small number of people who have yet to come forward for a primary course of a COVID-19 vaccine to do so.
“This vaccine will also be suitable for those individuals who could not avail of another COVID-19 vaccine because of a medical contra-indication e.g. allergic reaction.
"The vaccine is given in two doses with an interval of three weeks between doses.
“The main purpose of vaccination is to prevent serious illness and death – COVID-19 vaccines continue to prove remarkably effective in this regard and so it is really important that anyone yet to receive any course of COVID-19 vaccine does so as soon as possible, including those aged 5 – 11 years who are eligible to receive a Pfizer vaccine.
“The evidence also shows that those who have been boosted are less susceptible to infection and, if infected, are less infectious to others, compared with those who have not been boosted.
"If you are yet to receive your booster, please do so as soon as possible – it will protect you and those around you.”
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