First doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca or Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccines with second doses of the Moderna or Novavax jabs will generate robust immune responses against Covid-19, new research has found.
According to the study, participants who received a first dose of the Oxford or Pfizer jab generated a robust immune response when given a second vaccine dose manufactured by Novavax or Moderna nine weeks later.
No safety concerns were raised, meanwhile, in the study which included 1,070 participants, the University of Oxford-led Com-COV study found.
Researchers say the study supports the flexible use of the vaccines in primary immunisation schedules, which could prove crucial in helping their rapid deployment - especially in low-and middle-income countries where supply may be inconsistent.
Matthew Snape, associate professor in paediatrics and vaccinology at the University of Oxford, and chief investigator on the trial, said: "Thanks to studies such as these, we are now getting a more complete picture of how different Covid-19 vaccines can be used together in the same vaccine schedule.
"Encouragingly, all these schedules generated antibody concentrations above that of the licensed and effective two-dose Oxford/AstraZeneca schedule.
"When it comes to cellular immunity, having a first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine followed by any of the other study vaccines generates a particularly robust response."
The research found that both Oxford followed by Moderna/Novavax schedules both induced higher antibodies and T-cell responses than the licensed and highly effective standard’ two-dose Oxford schedule.
Pfizer/Moderna induced higher antibody and T-cell responses than the standard two-dose Pfizer schedule.
And Pfizer/Novavax induced higher antibodies than the two-dose Oxford schedule which induced lower antibody and T-cell responses than the two Pfizer doses.
Vaccine responses to different coronavirus variants were also investigated.
Blood samples taken from participants were tested for their effectiveness against the Wild-Type, Beta and Delta variants.
While it was observed that the vaccines’ efficacy against the variant strains had decreased, this was a consistent trend across the mixed schedules.
The study, published in The Lance t, also found that a significantly higher number of short-lived vaccine reactions were reported in volunteers who received a second dose of Moderna compared to those who received two doses of the Oxford or Pfizer jabs.
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