The first deliveries of the Novavax vaccine expected in France at the end of February

The first deliveries in France of the Novavax vaccine against the coronavirus, which received the green light from health authorities on Friday, will take place in the last week of February and not in early February as initially planned, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday.

“According to the information we have, the first deliveries are expected the week of February 21,” the ministry said during a press briefing. France should receive “between 1.1 and 1.2 million doses” for the first delivery then “800,000 doses per week in March”, he specified.

A more traditional technology

The ministry had initially planned for the first deliveries in early February. On Friday, the High Authority for Health (HAS), responsible for guiding the government in its vaccine policy, gave the green light to the vaccine from the American laboratory. It will become the fifth to be available in France.

Health authorities hope it will convince people who are reluctant to get vaccinated with messenger RNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, based on previously unseen technology. That of Novavax indeed uses a more classic technology, similar to that of the whooping cough vaccine.