Novavax Inc (NASDAQ:NVAX) shares dipped 11.2% to $9.60 during Wednesday's session, pulling back following recent strength.

Shares of vaccine makers are volatile this week after the first bird flu death was reported in the U.S. Additionally, a recent CDC report noted an increase in acute respiratory illness activity.

What To Know: As a company specializing in vaccine development, Novavax is positioned as a potential player in addressing such outbreaks, particularly given its history of creating vaccines for infectious diseases.

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While traditional bird flu vaccines from Sanofi, CSL Seqirus and GlaxoSmithKline are already stockpiled, they target older H5N1 strains, leaving potential room for innovation and updates.

Novavax, with its proprietary recombinant nanoparticle vaccine technology, could be seen as a contender to develop a next-generation bird flu vaccine if demand grows. The bird flu outbreak, which has devastated poultry farms and raised concerns about viral mutations, could also underscore the need for advanced vaccine platforms.

Investor speculation about potential government funding or contracts to combat the outbreak could likely contribute to volatility in Novavax shares, despite the CDC stating that public risk remains low.

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How To Buy NVAX Stock

By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Novavax – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.

Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy 'fractional shares,' which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share. For example, some stock, like Berkshire Hathaway, or Amazon.com, can cost thousands of dollars to own just one share. However, if you only want to invest a fraction of that, brokerages will allow you to do so.

In the the case of Novavax, which is trading at $9.60 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 10.41 shares of stock.

If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to 'go short' a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.

According to data from Benzinga Pro, NVAX has a 52-week high of $23.86 and a 52-week low of $3.53.

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