People who received a double dose of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine might have a stronger immune response if they were given a different vaccine as a booster, a leading scientist said.
Professor Matthew Snape of the Oxford Vaccine Group said the ‘mix and match’ approach could result in additional protection against coronavirus.
He made the comments following the results of a clinical trial comparing the current UK strategy of giving two doses of one or the other AstraZeneca or Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines against a combination of the two jabs.
The results showed that people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine first, followed by a dose of Pfizer four weeks later, produced nine times higher antibody levels than those who received two doses of the Oxford vaccine.
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The volunteers who received Pfizer first and AstraZeneca second had antibody levels five times higher than those who received two doses of the Oxford vaccine.
Two doses of Pfizer vaccine produced the highest antibody levels, but the T cell response was higher in people receiving the combination of vaccines.
Professor Snape, who led the Com-CoV study, said the combination gives “an extra boost to the immune system.”
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He said: “Looking at the coming winter, if a third dose were to be given, then this is really important data to inform which vaccines we should use and which combinations we should use.
“From our study, you must be thinking that if you were given AZ / AZ (for the first and second doses), there might be some benefit to getting an RNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) afterwards.”
Another study, called Cov-Boost is currently testing combinations of boosters for people who have received either two doses of AstraZeneca or Pfizer …
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Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2021-06-28 14:46:00
