Preliminary findings from a “mix-and-match” clinical trial of COVID-19 vaccines showed that people who received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and a second dose of the Moderna vaccine have higher antibody levels than those who received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) specialist advisory panel convener Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said yesterday.
The clinical trial conducted by National Taiwan University (NTU) Hospital recruited 400 participants, who were divided into four groups of 100 people each, Chang, an NTU executive vice president, told reporters on the sidelines of the 10th TEPHINET Southeast Asia/Western Pacific Bi-Regional Scientific Conference in Taipei.
The first group was given two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, eight weeks apart; the second group had two doses of the Moderna vaccine, four weeks apart; while the remaining two were given one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, followed by a dose of the Moderna vaccine, four weeks and eight weeks apart, Chang said.
Photo: CNA
Antibody tests conducted on the 14th day and the 28th day after the participants received a second dose have been completed, but a third test to be conducted three months after their second dose has yet to be done, he said.
Based on the first two antibody tests, people who received the AstraZeneca-Moderna combination have higher neutralizing antibody titers (levels) than those who received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but they are about the same as those who received two doses of Moderna, Chang said.
There were also more people in the AstraZeneca-Moderna combination groups who reported post-vaccination side effects than people in the groups who received two doses of the same vaccine, he said.
While a higher percentage of people who received the AstraZeneca-Moderna combination experienced side effects, the severity of the side effects was about the same, he added.
Moreover, when comparing the two AstraZeneca-Moderna combination groups, people who received the two doses eight weeks apart had slightly higher antibody levels than those who received them four weeks apart, so extending the interval a little longer should be acceptable, he said.
At the CECC’s daily news briefing yesterday, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said the center is considering allowing the public to receive a mix of the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines from later this month.
At present, only medical workers have the option of choosing Moderna for their second shot after receiving an AstraZeneca jab at least 10 weeks earlier.
The CECC late last month said that it would this month offer the public the option to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine as their first dose and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as the second.
Additional reporting by CNA
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