Part of the issue is that the FDA got hyper-focused on the mRNA vaccines, and NovaVax takes longer to produce so their paperwork takes longer to put in. For the first few years, the FDA gave their yearly approval for NovaVax several weeks after the mRNA vaccines, often in very late October, so NovaVax kept missing out on all the early-fall newsbeat of “get your vaccine! get your vaccine!” It didn’t help that a lot of US pharmacy chains didn’t stock it; iirc, the only major chain to stock it last year was Costco; it’s profile this year was helped by the fact that CVS decided to stock it.

NovaVax is slightly less effective than Pfizer (which itself is slightly less effective than Moderna [tbf, I think there’s only like a 5-point spread between the three]), but a couple studies came out last year showing that NovaVax’s main effectiveness may last slightly longer than the mRNA vaccines’ roughly 4-month effectiveness (though the difference may be only a matter of weeks).

For people who are vulnerable to poor outcomes, but who don’t qualify to be in the “yes, get vaccinated every couple months if you want” category (mostly people who’s immune system doesn’t produce a lasting response), NovaVax is an option to consider, though you’ll have to weigh the risk and reward. As someone who falls into that category, I’ve been getting NovaVax when it’s available early enough and when I expect a milder covid season; if I expect it to be a bad covid season, I’ll get the mRNA vaccines.

For me the timing works out as: the primary effectiveness is the first four months, so I try to time my shots to maximally cover the winter heating period and the summer cooling period, when HVAC systems are most in use and help spread the virus. If I get my fall shot in mid-October, I’ll be maximally covered through the end of February (includes the winter holidays through Valentine’s Day); and if I get my spring shot in early May, I’ll have max coverage from Memorial Day to mid/late September. [September is a time to be wary, as your protection will have faded somewhat, a lot of places may still be using A/C, and schoolkids will be spreading various diseases, including covid.]

• signed, someone who is generally healthy but who almost certainly has a genetic predisposition to dying from covid (as in, every other close family member was vaccinated and still died during the pandemic), who has been closely tracking the virus and the vaccines, and who has had 2 Pfizer, 4 Moderna and 3 NovaVax.

PS: for those who’ve made it this far, I’ll leave you three of my favorite virus tracking sites. The CDC’s variant tracking page shows which variants are making up what percentage of covid cases, and has a lineage tree. By knowing which lineage your vaccine protects against, and which variants are most prevalent, you can make a better-informed decision on your risk level.

Next, the CDC’s covid tracker page shows data for the past week, on both a national and a state level: what percentage of tests were reported positive (less useful now that su many places don’t bother reporting), what percentage of ER visits were for covid, and what percentage of deaths were from covid. This is very useful because you can see a surge coming (infections lead to hospitals lead to deaths), and because it’s on a national and state level so you can gauge your local risk and regional trends.

Finally, the Wastewater Surveillance project which collates data from participating wastewater processing sites. [important note: most facilities don’t do testing, and those that do don’t test for all possibilities. So just because your closest plant doesn’t show results for, say, RSV, doesn’t necessarily mean that RSV isn’t circulating in your area.] However, you can see national and regional trends, and search a specific area for participating sites, for data on the 10 diseases they’re tracking. And on the charts page, if you select a state, you can see local trends for those diseases.