Mixing vaccines might do more than just help overcome supply bottlenecks and some researchers suspect that a pair of different vaccines might work better than two doses of the same one
A mass vaccination site at the Cathedral in Salisbury, England, on Jan. 23, 2021. Researchers are exploring the possible benefits of combining doses from two different COVID-19 vaccines.
Image: Andrew Testa/The New York Times
In January, Britain made a change to its vaccine guidelines that shocked many health experts: If the second dose of one vaccine wasn’t available, patients could be given a different one.
The new rule was based on sheer guesswork; there was no scientific data at the time demonstrating that mixing two coronavirus vaccines was safe and effective. But that may change soon.
In February, researchers at the University of Oxford began a trial in which volunteers received a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine followed by a dose of AstraZeneca’s formulation, or vice versa. This month, the researchers will start analyzing the blood of the subjects to see how well the mix-and-match approach works.
As a growing number of vaccines are being authorized, researchers are testing other combinations. A few are in clinical trials, while others are being tested in animals for now.
Mixing vaccines might do more than just help overcome supply bottlenecks. Some researchers suspect that a pair of different vaccines might work better than two doses of the same one.
©2019 New York Times News Service