UK study to investigate whether vaccines can be safely mixed; Germany to give different second vaccine to AstraZeneca recipients under 60; India confirms 184,000 cases in 24 hours
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A study looking at whether the Oxford/Astrazeneca and Pfizer coronavirus vaccines can be safely mixed for the first and second doses will be expanded to include two additional jabs, PA reports.
Researchers running the Com-Cov study, launched in February to investigate alternating doses of the first two jabs to be rolled out across the UK, have announced the programme will be extended to include the Moderna and Novavax vaccines.
Led by the University of Oxford, the extra study will seek to recruit adults aged over 50 who have received their first vaccination in the past eight to 12 weeks.
Matthew Snape, associate professor in paediatrics and vaccinology at the University of Oxford, who is chief investigator on the trial said: “The focus of both this and the original Com-Cov study is to explore whether the multiple Covid-19 vaccines that are available can be used more flexibly, with different vaccines being used for the first and second dose.
“If we can show that these mixed schedules generate an immune response that is as good as the standard schedules, and without a significant increase in the vaccine reactions, this will potentially allow more people to complete their Covid-19 immunisation course more rapidly.
“This would also create resilience within the system in the event of a shortfall in availability of any of the vaccines in use.”
The volunteers, who will have received either the Oxford/AstraZeneca, or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, will be randomly allocated to receive either the same vaccine for their second dose, or a dose of the jabs produced by Moderna or Novavax.
Thailand reported on Wednesday 1,335 new Covid cases, the biggest daily rise since the start of the pandemic and the third record rise this week, as the country struggles with a new wave of infections.
No new deaths were reported. The new cases took the total number of infections to 35,910, with deaths remaining at 97.
source https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/apr/14/coronavirus-live-news-india-posts-record-new-cases-germany-wont-give-second-astrazeneca-dose-to-under-60s
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