Britain: Moderna-Novavax vaccines added to COVID-19 mixed-dose vaccine study

The study in the United Kingdom on the use of different vaccines against Moderna and Novavax is being extended to include vaccine doses COVID-19 in two-dose vaccinations.

The trial, known as the Com-Cov study, first began in February to see if taking the first dose of one type of COVID-19 vaccine and a second dose of another vaccine caused immune response as good as the immune response induced by the use of two doses of the same vaccine.

The idea, according to Matthew Snape, a professor at Oxford University who is leading the test, “is to investigate whether the multiple COVID-19 vaccines are available, can be used more flexibly “.

Britain and several other countries in Europe are currently using AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines against COVID-19 in national pandemic vaccination campaigns coronavirus, as broadcast by AMPE.

But reports of very rare blood clots have prompted some governments – including those in France and Germany – to announce that the AstraZeneca vaccine should be given to specific age groups or that people who have taken the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine should take the second dose with a different vaccine.

In an update on the extension of the study in order to include the Moderna vaccines and Novavax against COVID-19, Snape, an associate professor of pediatrics in Oxford specializing in vaccines, said he would seek to recruit adults over the age of 50 who received the first and “main” vaccine dose 8 to 12 weeks ago. .

These volunteers who have received the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine will randomly receive either the same vaccine or the Moderna or Novavax vaccine for their second dose.

The six new strands of the test will each include 175 people, adding a total of another 1,050 volunteers, according to Snape.

“If we can show that these mixed programs elicit a good immune response, which is as good as the prescribed procedure (vaccination with two doses of the same vaccine) and without a significant increase in vaccine reactions, this may allow more people to complete their COVID-19 immunity much faster ”, said Snape.

“This will also create a resilience of the system in the event that one of the vaccines is not available,” he added.

The results of the initial mixed test using only AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines are expected in April or May, while the results of a second phase will be available in July.

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