People who got the first jab of AstraZeneca Plc and later Pfizer Inc.’s vaccine reported more short-lived mild side effects, said the researchers from the University of Oxford. The vice-versa of the order of the shots is also true. It is yet not sure that how much the mixing of doses is effective.
As many low and middle-income countries have been struggling to find out the way to deal with vaccine shortages, researchers and public health officers are examining blending strategies. This would provide more insight into a mixture that is already used in certain countries.
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For instance, people who have received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine in France are given the second dose of Pfizer or BioNTech SE vaccine after the French government limited the vaccine to older people.
Mathew Snape, an Oxford paediatrics and vaccinology professor said, “It’s intriguing finding and not something that we were necessarily expecting. Whether or not this will relate to improved immune response, we don’t know yet, we’ll be finding out those results in a few weeks.”
He added, “The finding indicates that mixed dose schedules can result in an increase in work absences the day after immunization.”
The research showed that about 10% of participants who got mixed doses complained about severe fatigue.
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