Hilda Bastian’s education is in health science, and she is a health consumer advocate. When she hypes up Novavax in her 2021 Atlantic article, she does so as an enthusiastic consumer.

Novavax seems easier to distribute, but mRNA is still more effective for most people. From https://yalemedicine.org/news/covid-19-vaccine-comparison:

This [Novavax] vaccine, which is a protein adjuvant, had a 90% efficacy in its clinical trial, performing almost as well as the mRNA vaccines in their early trials. It is simpler to make than some of the other vaccines and can be stored in a refrigerator, making it easier to distribute.

It still seems more effective than Johnson & Johnson/Janssen viral vector vaccine was