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.

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,

With the approval of Moderna's updated COVID-19 vaccine, doctors are hoping the shots will be available soon and Albertans will opt to roll up their sleeves to get one.Last week, Health Canada announced it had authorized Moderna's new formulation,

On Aug. 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the approval of a new Novavax COVID vaccine, as well as updated versions of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. According to NPR, this latest vaccine is already being distributed and administered across the country.

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.