The study involved 850 volunteers aged 50 years and older who were given doses four weeks apart.
A study has found that taking the first dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine and then AstraZeneca for the second can provide good protection against the pandemic virus.
The Com-Cov trial, led by researchers at the University of Oxford, looked at the efficacy of two doses of Pfizer, two of AstraZeneca, or one of them followed by the other. The results showed that all combinations worked well, stimulating the immune system, the BBC reported.
AstraZeneca-Pfizer shots showed higher antibodies
The study involved 850 volunteers aged 50 years and older who were given doses four weeks apart. The team found that people who took the AstraZeneca shot after Pfizer showed greater antibody and T cell responses than those who took AstraZeneca after Pfizer.
Both of these mixtures induced higher antibodies than the two doses of AstraZeneca, while the highest antibody response was observed after two doses of Pfizer, and the highest T cell response from AstraZeneca was observed after Pfizer.
“We already know that both standard programs are very effective against critical illness and hospitalization, with those given eight to 12 weeks apart against the delta variant,” the university’s principal investigator, Professor Matthew Snipe, was quoted as saying. was said.
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However, he said the findings did not undermine the UK’s policy of giving people twice as much. But, they offer such flexibility for future vaccine rollouts.
‘Mixed dose may provide more flexibility for booster program’
UK Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, “Mixing doses can give us even more flexibility for booster programmes, while also supporting countries that need to go ahead with their vaccine rollouts, and who are facing supply difficulties.” The BBC was quoted as saying.
The two doses are important to provide complete protection and to teach the body to make antibodies and T cells to prevent and kill COVID.
Meanwhile, a pre-print study shows that the third dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, given more than six months after the second, boosts the immune system, the BBC reported.
But, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is currently no data to support that a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot is needed for the general population. An additional dose may be needed for more sensitive groups, such as older adults or organ transplant patients.
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