LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will allow people to be given vaccines with various COVID-19 vaccines in rare cases, despite a lack of evidence on the degree of immunity provided by mixing doses.
In deviating from other global strategies, the government said people could be given a mix-and-match of two COVID-19 photos, for example if the same dose of vaccine is no longer in stock, according to the guidelines. published on New Year’s Eve. “(If) the same vaccine is not available or if the first product received is unknown, it is reasonable to provide a dose of the locally available product to complete the program,” according to the guidelines.
Mary Ramsay, head of immunizations at Public Health England, said this would only happen in very rare cases and that the government did not recommend mixing vaccines, which require at least two doses given a few weeks apart.
“Every effort should be made to give them the same vaccine, but where this is not possible, it is better to give a second dose of another vaccine than not at all,” she said.
COVID-19 has killed more than 74,000 people in the UK – the second largest death toll in Europe, and health officials are struggling to deliver doses to help end the pandemic, as services fear health could be overwhelmed.
Earlier this week, the government reactivated the emergency hospitals built at the beginning of the outbreak, while the wards were filled with patients with COVID-19. The United Kingdom was at the forefront of approving new coronavirus vaccines, becoming the first country to grant Pfizer emergency authorization. / BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines / Oxford University last month.
Both vaccines are meant to be given as two vaccines, given a few weeks apart, but were not designed to be mixed together.
The new government guidelines stated that “there is no evidence of interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccines, although studies are ongoing.”
However, the advice said that although every effort should be made to complete the dosing regimen with the same vaccine, if the patient is at “immediate increased risk” or is considered “unlikely to participate again”, they may be administer different vaccines.
The UK sparked controversy earlier this week, announcing plans to delay the administration of the coronavirus vaccine in an attempt to ensure that more people can be offered more limited single-dose protection.
Leading US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said on Friday he did not agree with the British approach of postponing the second dose to 12 weeks.
“I wouldn’t be in favor of that,” he told CNN. “We will continue to do what we do.”
Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Montage by Helen Popper