[Question] How do the side effects of Novavax compare to other COVID-19 vaccines?

[ChristianKl]

I’m curious whether Novavax has the same side-effects of the mRNA vaccines where normal side-effects often involve the person being feeling too sick to do anything and having fever the next day. Unfortunately, most sources I find while googling aren’t very detailed when they talk about side effects. If Novavax would have side-effects that are more similar to a normal flu vaccine then to mRNA vaccines that would be good to know.

[ChristianKl]

Via TheAtlantic:

The Novavax vaccine also has a substantially lower rate of side effects than the authorized mRNA vaccines. Last week’s data showed that about 40 percent of people who receive Novavax report fatigue after the second dose, as compared with 65 percent for Moderna and more than 55 percent for Pfizer. Based on the results of Novavax’s first efficacy trial in the U.K., side effects (including but not limited to fatigue) aren’t just less frequent; they’re milder too.

[sudoLife]

I wonder if we haven’t observed adverse side effects due to small sample or the vaccine actually being better. How do we tell?

[ChristianKl]

Given that the mRNA vaccines have around half of the people being ill for a day after the vaccine not one person out of >100 being ill the next day is not easily explainable with small sample sizes.

Edit:

I just saw that your comment was about the Novavaxx vaccine, the >100 referred to what Stöcker found for his vaccine.

The Novavaxx vaccine vent through proper clinical trails with tens of thousands of patients.

[sudoLife]

True. Have you been able to find any plausible justification for why mRNA vaccines make you that sick? From what I know, they only create the protein spikes.

[ChristianKl]

I don’t have an explanation where I’m confident that it’s true.

[Douglas_Knight]

The dose is too high.

[Dumbledore's Army]

N of 1 here, but I was in the phase 3 trial for the Novavax vaccine and literally had no side effects at all. I’m certain I had the vaccine because the UK decided to do a crossover trial after the other vaccines were approved—ie everyone who got the placebo the first time got the vaccine the second time and vice versa, but we don’t know which is which.

I was also told by one of the trial doctors that they were seeing very low levels of side effects (this was at a follow-up blood test before the second round of vaccine/​placebo injections). I told her I thought I’d had the placebo and she said that lots of people were saying that and it looked like the vaccine just had really low side effects.

So I overall I would put a high probability on the proposition that the Novavax vaccine has lower side effects than Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca.