[ad_1]
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – Germany has issued what appears to be the world’s strongest recommendation to mix coronavirus vaccines for efficacy reasons, calling for receiving a messenger RNA vaccine after the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
On Thursday, the German Standing Committee on Immunization said people who receive a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine “should receive the mRNA vaccine as a second dose, regardless of their age.”
This makes Germany one of the first countries to strongly recommend that people who have received a first dose of AstraZeneca receive either the Pfizer / Biontech or Moderna vaccine as a second dose.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel helped pave the way for a combination vaccine when she received Moderna in June as a second dose after a first dose of AstraZeneca.
The Standing Committee on Immunization said that “the results of the ongoing study” show that the immune response generated after mixed dose vaccination improves markedly.
The mRNA vaccines currently approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) are Pfizer / Biontech and Moderna.
The agency said in a press briefing Thursday that while it is “unable to make any definitive recommendations regarding the use of two different doses of Covid-19 vaccines, there is” a “strong scientific reason “behind this approach”.
The agency’s head of vaccine strategy and biological threats to health, Marco Cavalieri, said the agency is “aware of preliminary results from studies in Spain and Germany,” which “show this strategy results in a satisfactory immune response and that there are no safety concerns. “
Cavalieri pointed out that while the agency made recommendations “based on all the available evidence on the benefits and risks of a particular vaccine”, the responsibility for how the vaccination was administered lies with “the organs of the vaccine. ‘experts who lead the vaccination campaigns in each Member State “.
Some European countries have already administered mRNA vaccines as a second dose after the first dose of AstraZeneca for health and safety reasons, rather than effectiveness.
After concerns about potentially fatal blood clotting events, countries like Germany and Spain have recommended that people under the age of 60 who have received a first dose of AstraZeneca receive mRNA for their second dose.
Source link
