LONDON (Reuters) – A UK study on the use of different COVID-19 vaccines in two-dose vaccinations is being expanded to include photos taken by Moderna and Novavax, researchers said on Wednesday.
The study, known as the Com-Cov study, was first launched in February to examine whether administering a first dose of one type of COVID-19 and a second dose of another causes an immune response as well. good as using two doses of the same vaccine.
The idea, said Matthew Snape, a professor at Oxford University who is leading the study, is to explore whether more COVID-19 vaccines that are available can be used more flexibly.
The UK and many other European countries currently use AstraZeneca and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines in national immunization campaigns against the coronavirus pandemic.
But reports of very rare blood clots have led some governments – including France and Germany – to say that the AstraZeneca shot should only be given to certain age groups or that people who have received a first dose of AstraZeneca should switch to a different dose. for their second dose.
In a briefing on expanding the study to include COVID-19 Moderna and Novavax vaccines, Snape, an associate professor of pediatrics and vaccinology at Oxford, said he would seek to recruit adults over the age of 50 who received their first “Vaccination in the last 8-12 weeks.
These volunteers, who will have received either the AstraZeneca vaccine or the Pfizer vaccine, will be randomly assigned to receive either the same vaccine or the Moderna or Novavax vaccine for the second dose.
The six new arms of the process will each involve 175 people, adding another 1,050 recruits in total, Snape said.
“If we can demonstrate that these mixed programs generate an immune response as good as standard programs and without a significant increase in vaccine reactions, this will potentially allow more people to complete their COVID-19 immunization course faster.” Slap said.
“This would also create resistance within the system in the event of a deficiency in the availability of any vaccine.”
The results of the original mixing test, using only the AstraZeneca and Pfizer photos, are expected as early as April or May, while the results of the second phase should come in July.
Reported by Kate Kelland. Edited by Mark Potter