Novavax Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine was 96 per cent effective in preventing cases caused by the original version of the coronavirus in a late-stage trial conducted in the United Kingdom, the company said on Thursday, moving it a step closer to regulatory approval.There were no cases of severe illness or deaths among those who got the vaccine, the company said, in a sign that it could stop the worse effects of new variants that have cropped up.The vaccine was 86 per cent effective in protecting against the more contagious virus variant first discovered and now prevalent in the United Kingdom, for a combined 90 per cent effectiveness rate overall based on data from infections of both versions of the coronavirus.