South African trial of Novavax vaccine seen to be 60% effective, says head of trial

South Africa's mid-stage trial of U.S.-based biotech company Novavax Inc's COVID-19 vaccine has shown it to be 60% effective for non-HIV individuals, the principal investigator of the study said late on Thursday.

Shabir Madhi, a professor of vaccinology at the University of the Witwatersrand who is leading the clinical study for the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine in South Africa, said the results were good and showed the vaccine is highly effective toward immunization against the coronavirus.

"The results are far superior than any other vaccine against the new variant," Madhi said.