WHO warns against mixing and pairing COVID-19 vaccines

• The chief scientist of the World Health Organization (WHO) called the mixing and pairing of COVID-19 vaccines a “dangerous trend.”
• She said people should not “start thinking about” about getting different vaccines.
• The United Nations health agency has also called on countries not to buy boosters when others still need vaccines.
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In a Monday briefing, the chief scientist of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned against mixing and matching different vaccines, saying there is not enough data to show that the practice is more effective in protecting against COVID-19.

“It’s a bit of a dangerous trend here. We are in an area with no data and no evidence,” WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said during the COVID-19 online briefing. She said studies on the subject are currently underway. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and six other WHO directors and experts were also present at the COVID-19 briefing.

The briefing comes as more countries seek to mix and match vaccines amid a vaccine shortage and concerns that vaccines are ineffective against more infectious variants of the coronavirus.

Thailand announced Monday that it will administer the AstraZeneca vaccine as a second dose to those who received Sinovac as the first dose, the Bangkok Post reported. Indonesia announced Friday that it will give a third booster of Moderna to medical workers who have received two doses of Sinovac, the Jakarta Post reported.

WHO has also expressed concern that as richer countries begin to consider giving booster shots, more vulnerable countries could be left behind.

“The global gap in the supply of COVID-19 vaccines is extremely uneven and inequitable. Some countries and regions are actually ordering millions of booster doses, before other countries have had supplies to vaccinate their agents. health and the most vulnerable, ”Adhanom Ghebreyesu said on Monday. Report.

The chief scientist of the United Nations health agency said there was no evidence to suggest that booster injections are currently needed, explaining that while infection rates are increasing in some countries among those vaccinated , there was no increase in hospitalizations or deaths.