What We're Reading: Novavax Has Sluggish Start; Self-managing Unwanted Pregnancies; Naloxone Affordability

Slow Start to Novavax Vaccines

Novavax vaccines are out to a slow start after its emergency authorization last month, with only 7300 doses administered nationwide. Experts gave a probable explanation of the slow distribution, saying that the vaccines were not immediately available after authorization, which may have delayed some reporting. The Novavax vaccine is currently available at 986 sites, which is an improvement from the 385 sites that initially offered it but well below the 53,000 available locations with COVID-19 vaccines. The Biden administration had secured 3.2 million doses in July in hopes that unvaccinated Americans would get the vaccine.

Women ‘Self-managing’ Unwanted Pregnancies as Abortion Access Declines

In the wake of the Roe v. Wade ruling, women are turning more often to self-managing ways of dealing with unwanted pregnancies, according to The New York Times. Women have been taken to online resources and obtaining the medication to help them without a doctor or clinician’s supervision. Medication abortion, which can be mailed to patients after a virtual appointment, has made anti-abortion legislation significantly harder to enforce. Anti-abortion advocates claim that medication abortion is unsafe and could miss medical complications, such as ectopic pregnancy. Abortion advocates have said that there is plenty of evidence to show that medication abortions are safe, with less than half of 1% of women who used medication abortion in 2020 experiencing serious complications.

Affordable Naloxone to Get Easier to Access

Naloxone, an opioid overdose antidote, has begun shipping across the nation in a national effort to reverse overdoses. Remedy Alliance, a nonprofit charity that organized the naloxone shipments, said that 2 major developments helped naloxone become more affordable. The first was making agreements with drugmakers to buy the drug at a discounted price and the second, a restricted system that allows for grass-roots groups to order naloxone through an online store, which can help to circumvent the federal regulations that restricted naloxone in the past. Remedy Alliance believes that their efforts could save tens of thousands of lives each year as opioid overdose deaths have exceeded 100,000 in the nation, affecting Black and Native American people at an increased rate.