Novavax COVID-19 vaccine recommended for approval by FDA advisory committee

A fourth COVID-19 vaccine will likely be available to Americans soon after an FDA advisory panel recommended Novavax's shot for emergency use authorization on Tuesday. 

The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted 21-0 with one abstention during a 7-hour meeting to review the company's application. 

Some health officials are hopeful that the new vaccine may appeal to the 27 million American who still are not vaccinated against COVID-19, as Novavax's shot is a more traditional protein vaccine that has been used for decades to prevent hepatitis B, shingles, and other diseases. 

The most widely used vaccines in the U.S., which are made by Pfizer and Moderna, user messenger RNA, or mRNA, to deliver genetic instructions for immune system to produce its own copies of the spike protein that is found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19.