LONDON (Reuters) – A UK study of the use of different COVID-19 vaccines in two-dose vaccinations is expanded to include recordings made by Moderna and Novavax, researchers said Wednesday.
The trial, known as the Com-Cov trial, was first launched in February to see if administering a first dose of one type of COVID-19 injection and a second dose of another elicits an immune response that is equally effective. is good when using two doses of the same vaccine.
The idea, said Matthew Snape, the Oxford University professor who led the trial, “is to explore whether the multiple COVID-19 vaccines available could be used more flexibly.”
Britain and many other countries in Europe are currently using AstraZeneca’s and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines in nationwide 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 injection should only be given to certain age groups, or that people who have had a first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine should switch to a others for their second dose.
In a briefing on expanding the study to include Modern and Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccines, Snape, associate professor of pediatrics and vaccinology at Oxford, said it will try to recruit adults over 50 who have their first, or “Vaccination in the past 8-12 weeks.
These volunteers, who have received either the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine, will be randomly assigned to receive either the same vaccine or the Moderna or Novavax vaccine for a second dose.
The trial’s six new arms will each involve 175 people, with an additional 1,050 recruits in total, Snape said.
“If we can demonstrate that these mixed schedules generate an immune response that is as good as the standard schedules, and without a significant increase in vaccine responses, this may allow more people to complete their COVID-19 immunization course more quickly,” Snape said.
“This would also create resilience within the system in the event of a shortage of availability of one of the vaccines.”
Results from the original blending test, using only AstraZeneca and Pfizer shots, are expected as early as April or May, while the results from the second phase should come in July.
Reporting by Kate Kelland. Editing by Mark Potter