Health ministers in Europe are hoping to win over vaccine sceptics with the recently approved Novavax shot, which uses more traditional methods than some of its rivals which have suffered from virulent disinformation campaigns.
The product was approved last month by the European Medicines Agency after two separate trials showed efficacy rates of about 90 per cent.
Unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots, it does not use messenger RNA (mRNA) technology but works by exposing the body to a version of the spike protein found on the surface of the coronavirus.
Although mRNA vaccines have proved safe and spectacularly successful in preventing serious illness, the technology is relatively new, and is subject to false claims and conspiracy theories that it changes people’s genetics.
Such doubts have stalled the rate of vaccination in Europe and frustrated EU leaders, who have taken various steps to increase the pressure on those who remain unvaccinated. About a quarter of the bloc’s population is unprotected.
A summit of state health ministers in Germany said unvaccinated health workers should be first in line for Novavax when the first of 3.8 million expected doses arrive in February.
The shipment to Germany is a part of the US drug maker's deal to supply up to 200 million doses to the EU’s 27 member states.
A government-commissioned poll in Germany last year showed 51 per cent of unvaccinated people citing the available technologies, including mRNA, as one of their reasons for rejecting a shot.
Sepp Mueller, a German MP from the opposition Christian Democrats, said he hoped that Novavax could reduce the need for compulsory vaccinations being debated by parliament.
He said the same could be true of the Valneva vaccine, which uses an inactivated virus and showed promising results in trials.
“With newly-approved vaccines — a protein vaccine that will be delivered in the coming weeks, and an inactivated vaccine that is on its way — we can reach these people and close the vaccination gap,” he said.
Early data showed the Novavax product was effective in generating an immune response against the more infectious Omicron variant.
In Austria, which last week brought in compulsory vaccinations, a website went live on Thursday for the unvaccinated in one state to register their interest in Novavax, following similar moves in other parts of the country.
“This way we can make an offer to protect concerned people from serious illness,” said Christine Haberlander, deputy leader of the state of Upper Austria.
Some had “delayed and waited for another vaccine technology, despite the safety of the vaccines used billions of times,” she said.
Gerd Kurath, a spokesman for the state government in Carinthia, said authorities in the region had ordered thousands of Novavax doses from ministers in Vienna.
Meanwhile, Dutch Health Minister Ernst Kuipers said the Netherlands was looking at ways for people to express a preference for Novavax.
The European Commission said on Thursday that tech companies such as Google and TikTok had stepped up their efforts to combat misinformation, but that there was “still margin for improvement”.
Commissioner Vera Jourova said the companies should move to “tackle the existing weaknesses, including by treating all languages in a rigorous way”.
TikTok said it had added information about vaccines to 266,000 posts in December, compared with 90,000 in October.
Novavax is not the first non-mRNA vaccine used in the EU. The AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson shots use modified viruses.
Torbal Rayeh Wa Jayeh
Starring: Ali El Ghoureir, Khalil El Roumeithy, Mostafa Abo Seria
Stars: 3
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
Saturday's schedule at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
GP3 race, 12:30pm
Formula 1 final practice, 2pm
Formula 1 qualifying, 5pm
Formula 2 race, 6:40pm
Performance: Sam Smith
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Day 1 results:
Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Top New Zealand cop on policing the virtual world
New Zealand police began closer scrutiny of social media and online communities after the attacks on two mosques in March, the country's top officer said.
The killing of 51 people in Christchurch and wounding of more than 40 others shocked the world. Brenton Tarrant, a suspected white supremacist, was accused of the killings. His trial is ongoing and he denies the charges.
Mike Bush, commissioner of New Zealand Police, said officers looked closely at how they monitored social media in the wake of the tragedy to see if lessons could be learned.
“We decided that it was fit for purpose but we need to deepen it in terms of community relationships, extending them not only with the traditional community but the virtual one as well," he told The National.
"We want to get ahead of attacks like we suffered in New Zealand so we have to challenge ourselves to be better."
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UFC Fight Night 2
1am – Early prelims
2am – Prelims
4am-7am – Main card
7:30am-9am – press cons
Dunki
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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ON%20TRACK
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Porsche Taycan Turbo specs
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Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Pakhtoons 137-6 (10 ov)
Fletcher 68 not out; Cutting 2-14
Sindhis 129-8 (10 ov)
Perera 47; Sohail 2-18
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
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Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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Our legal consultant
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The biog
Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi
Age: 23
How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them
Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need
Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman
Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs
Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
