The Czech pharmaceutical company Novavax CZ is working towards launching its own COVID-19 vaccine, planned for distribution to the public later this year and reported to be almost 90% effective. The company is expected to produce approximately one billion doses of the vaccine. Photo credit: Freepik / Illustrative photo.
Czech Rep., Feb 9 (BD) – Intensive work is continuing on the development of a Czech-produced vaccine against COVID-19, planned for distribution to the public later this year, as confirmed by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček. The vaccine is reported to be almost 90% effective. Novavax CZ, the Prague-based branch of US company Novavax, is expected to produce approximately one billion doses of the vaccine.
“I know that they have started the production of the vaccine, I know that it is a question of certificates and approvals,” Havlíček told CNN Prima NEWS, when asked for details about the start of commercial production of the vaccine. “Prime Minister Andrej Babiš was in the Novavax factory, and is in contact with the manufacturer. He is monitoring whether there is a chance the vaccine could start being produced. There is a high chance that it could actually hit the market in 2021,” he said.
According to Babiš, the launch of the Novavax vaccine is delayed: “I visited the Novavax factory near Prague and they should produce a billion vaccines a year. So far, unfortunately, it’s a bit slippery. They are testing the vaccine in the UK and the studies have turned out very well. The assumption is that this could take place soon and deliveries could start as early as April. That’s the latest information I have.”
“It is a protein vaccine, in this case, the ready-made antigen is given immediately and the immune system gets acquainted with it and thus prepares for the relevant coronavirus,” explained vaccininologist Marek Petráš. The approval of another vaccine from the European Union could significantly relieve the vaccine shortage, as all EU-approved vaccines, including Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca have temporarily reduced their supply to improve production capacity.
