After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for the Novavax COVID-19 booster the CDC and the Department of Health are allowing the use of the booster to adults 18 and older across Hawaiʻi.

Novavax monovalent COVID-19 boosters are recommended for adults for whom a bivalent booster by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna is not clinically appropriate and adults who would otherwise not get a COVID-19 booster.

Adults who completed their primary series of Novavax, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines at least six months ago can receive a Novavax booster if they have not already received a different booster by another manufacturer.

“We encourage people to get the new bivalent boosters from Pfizer or Moderna because those are the only boosters specially designed to protect against Omicron subvariants. But Novavax is an option for those who can’t get a Pfizer or Moderna booster,” said State Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Char, FACEP in a statement.

Novavax is a protein subunit vaccine. It includes harmless proteins of the COVID-19 virus that trigger an immune response. Protein subunit vaccines, which include vaccines for hepatitis B, whooping cough, shingles, and other diseases, have been used in the United States for more than 30 years.

To date, DOH reports 179 doses of Novavax COVID-19 vaccines have been administered statewide as part of primary vaccine series.

For more information on the Novavax vaccine visit hawaiicovid19.com.