While the new mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech have dominated the COVID-19 vaccine story, there is another type of shot that uses a more traditional vaccine-making technology, used by Novavax.

Pfizer's and Moderna's formulas have been the go-to on pharmacy shelves, but Novavax remains an important option.

The newly updated COVID-19 vaccine just arrived in pharmacies and clinics nationwide, and a new poll suggests nearly half of people age 50 and older plan to get it. But some older adults with high risk of severe illness appear unlikely to seek the vaccine,

Health data show that COVID-19 still surpasses all other infectious respiratory illnesses as a cause of severe illness, hospitalization and, sadly, death. The good news is that the margin between COVID-19 and influenza is the slimmest it has ever been.