LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will allow people to receive vaccines from different COVID-19 vaccines on a few occasions, despite a lack of evidence on the scope of immunity offered by mixed doses.
By moving away from other strategies globally, the government said people could be given a combination of two shots of COVID-19, for example, if the same dose of vaccine ran out, according to guidelines published last night. New Year’s Eve. “(If) the same vaccine is not available or if the first product received is unknown, it is reasonable to offer a dose of the product available locally to complete the schedule,” according to the guidelines.
Mary Ramsay, head of vaccinations at Public Health England, said this would only happen on extremely rare occasions and that the government did not recommend mixing vaccines, which require at least two separate doses several weeks.
“Every effort should be made to give them the same vaccine, but when that is not possible, it is better to give a second dose of another vaccine than not to give it,” he said.
COVID-19 has killed more than 74,000 people in Britain, Europe’s second-highest death toll, and health officials are vying to administer doses that will help end the pandemic as fears grow that the health service may be overwhelmed.
Earlier this week, the government reactivated emergency hospitals built at the start of the outbreak as pupils filled with COVID-19 patients, while Britain has been at the forefront of approving the new coronavirus vaccines, becoming the first country to give emergency authorization to Pfizer. / BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines / Oxford University last month.
Both vaccines are to be given in two shots, several weeks apart, but were not designed to be mixed.
The new government guidelines said that “there is no evidence on the interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccines, although studies are being conducted.”
However, the council said that while every effort should be made to complete the dosing regimen with the same vaccine, if the patient has an “immediate risk” or is considered “unlikely to return to different vaccines can be given. “
Britain sparked controversy earlier this week by announcing plans to delay the coronavirus vaccine to try to ensure more people can be given the more limited protection afforded by a single dose.
Top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said Friday he disagreed with the British approach of delaying the second dose by up to 12 weeks.
“I wouldn’t be in favor of that,” he told CNN. “We will continue to do what we are doing.”
Reports by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Helen Popper