The US government will get 3.2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Novavax once the shot has been authorized by the regulators, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the company said on Monday, according to a report in Reuters.
The shot will be made available for free in the country after it gets authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) recommendation.
Advisers to the FDA last month voted to recommend that the agency authorize the shot for use in adults.
Novavax is expected to complete all necessary quality testing in the next few weeks, which would support final release of the shots, HHS said in a statement on Monday.
Novavax's shot, which is already available in over 40 countries, is a more traditional type of vaccine employing technology that has been used for decades to combat diseases like influenza.
The company announced back in February that it has filed for emergency use authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine for US adults. Novavax had to delay its US submission multiple times due to development and manufacturing setbacks.
Israel several months inked a contract with Novavax, under which Israel will buy five million COVID-19 vaccine doses from the company. The deal includes the option for an additional five million doses.