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Mixing Covid-19 vaccines is not recommended, Public Health England chief of immunizations Dr Mary Ramsay said on Saturday after the government’s guidance was updated this week to say the interchangeability of Covid-19 vaccines was a “reasonable” option.
“We do not recommend mixing Covid-19 vaccines; if your first dose is the Pfizer vaccine, you should not receive the AstraZeneca vaccine for your second dose and vice versa,” Ramsay said in a statement.
“There can be extremely rare occasions when the same vaccine is not available or it is not known which vaccine the patient received. Every effort should be made to administer the same vaccine, but when this is not possible, it is better to administer a second dose of another vaccine than not administer it, ”he added.
Ramsay clarified the UK’s position on vaccine mix after an update to the government’s vaccine strategy manual on December 31.
What did the updated guide say? Thursday’s guidance said that if the same vaccine is not available, or if the first product received is unknown, “it is reasonable to offer a dose of the product available locally to complete the program.”
“This option is preferred if the person is likely to be at immediate high risk or considered unlikely to attend again,” he added.
What vaccines does the UK use? The UK authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine on December 2 and the Oxford University / AstraZeneca vaccine on December 30.
The guideline recommends that both vaccines be given in two doses, a minimum of 21 days apart for Pfizer / BioNTech and 28 days apart for AstraZeneca, with longer term protection provided by the second inoculation.
The UK guidelines contradict the American approach: The updated UK guide contradicts the US guidelines for the two vaccines it has licensed, Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have noted that licensed Covid-19 vaccines “are not interchangeable with each other or with other Covid-19 vaccine products,” and that “the safety and efficacy of a series of mixed products they have not been evaluated. Both doses of the series must be completed with the same product “.
The CDC adds, however, that “if two doses of different COVID-19 mRNA vaccine products are inadvertently administered, no additional doses of either product are recommended at this time.”
