Guard Leaders Hopeful Novavax will Boost Rates

Approved for emergency use in mid-July, the Novavax vaccine presents the latest hope for reducing the number of National Guardsmen who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19.

About 45,000 service members have yet to get a COVID-19 shot, including those with concerns about side effects or religious objections to available vaccines.

Shortly after the vaccine received Food and Drug Administration emergency use approval July 13, the National Guard began ordering and distributing it to the states, according to Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson, the chief of the National Guard Bureau.

In a Military Times interview, Hokanson stressed concern about potentially losing Guardsmen during the grimmest recruiting environments in decades.

“Readiness is based on the number of people you have,” he said. “We can’t afford to lose anybody.”

Hokanson added leadership must “make sure we’re doing everything we can to get our folks vaccinated.”

Unlike Pfizer and Moderna, the Maryland-based Novavax vaccine uses a protein made from moth cells and does not contain polyethylene glycol, an ingredient found to cause allergies among some individuals.

The Novavax vaccine also offers an alternative for those with religious objections to the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson versions. Novavax’s vaccines were not developed with fetal cell lines.

Lt. Col. David Sayers, the chief of preventive medicine, Air Force Medical Readiness Agency, noted in July that the Novavax vaccine uses technology that’s existed since the 1980s.

“Novavax may accommodate those with sincerely held beliefs who felt limited in their options with the previous vaccine offering,” added Maj. Gen. Sharon Bannister, the medical operations director for the Air Force Surgeon General.