An appetizer of AstraZeneca, with Moderna for the main? It may sound strange, but some experts believe that mixing vaccines could be a path to stronger protection against COVID-19. They’re calling on health authorities to make it an official policy.
It’s the question on everyone’s lips. Can you mix different brands of COVID-19 vaccine? And Health Minister Chen Shih-chung, for one, is sick of answering it. He says people ask him the same question almost every day.
That comes after some Taiwanese health experts called for authorities to allow vaccine mixing. Wang Jen-hsien is Honorary Managing Director of the Taiwan Counter Contagious Diseases Society. He says following AstraZeneca with a dose of Pfizer-BioNTech gives better protection than two doses of AstraZeneca. Wang says that could also be the case for AstraZeneca and Moderna.
Huang Li-min from the Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan agrees. He says following AstraZeneca with Pfizer-BioNTech gives similar protection to two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Huang says he thinks allowing vaccine mixing will encourage people to take AstraZeneca as their first dose.
Dr Chou Pai-chien of Taipei Medical University Hospital says research from reputable sources supports mixing AstraZeneca and Moderna. He says it’s safe and effective. Chou says Taiwan has been too slow to set up clinical trials of mixing, since the country is nearly out of Moderna doses. But he says if studies in Taiwan show promising immune responses to mixing in young people, for example, Taiwan should officially allow vaccine mixing for everyone.
But experts say mixing vaccines won’t necessarily speed up the vaccination process. That’s because some research suggests it is best to wait eight to ten weeks before the second dose to allow for the best immune response.
For now, though, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung says there’s not enough scientific evidence in favor of mixing. So if you’ve already had your first dose, there should be little surprise about which one you get for the second.