SACRAMENTO, Calif. — UC Davis is testing a new COVID-19 vaccine that researchers say could be approved by the Food and Drug Administration this spring.

The vaccine is from the biotechnology company, Novavax. It works by triggering an immune response to the spike protein that creates antibodies to fight against the virus. The Novavax vaccine consists of two shots given 21 days apart, similar to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

What You Need To Know

  • A new COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial is ongoing at UC Davis that researchers say could be approved by the Food and Drug Administration this spring

  • The goal of the Novavax vaccine trial is to enroll 30,000 people into the program nationwide

  • The vaccine consists of two shots given 21 days apart that works by teaching the immune system to create antibodies to fight against COVID-19

  • Novavax has released results from its phase three trial data in the U.K., which showed the vaccine to be 89.3% effective

Dr. Stuart Cohen, the chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at UC Davis, says the goal of the vaccine clinical trial is to enroll 30,000 people into the program nationwide.

“People have been excited to participate in the trial. It’s difficult to do a vaccine trial in the midst of when other vaccines are available,” Dr. Cohen said.

Diane Hoffman is participating in the Novavax vaccine clinical trial after retiring from a 32-year career at UC Davis.

“This is an opportunity for me certainly as a retiree to help out and to help out in the pool for future,” Hoffman said.

She already received both of her doses for the clinical trial, but doesn’t yet know if she got the real vaccine or a placebo. However, Hoffman says she experienced soreness in her arm after the shot, which Dr. Cohen says is a normal side effect.

“The first one I didn’t feel any reaction at all. After the second one, my arm was a little sore moving up and down, but certainly didn’t have any other problems at all,” Hoffman added.

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So far, Novavax has released results from its phase three trial data in the U.K., which showed the vaccine to be 89.3% effective.

Dr. Cohen says Novavax could be approved for emergency use by the FDA as early as May.

“The goal is to get everybody vaccinated as soon as we can and the more vaccines we have available, the more doses are going to be available,” Dr. Cohen said.

President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that there would be enough COVID-19 vaccine doses available for the entire adult population in the U.S. by the end of May. Hoffman said she hopes the Novavax trial will be successful, so the country has one more option to stop the spread of the virus.