Can mixing different brands of COVID-19 vaccines be the key to solving supply shortages?

 

Can mixing of different brands of the COVID-19 vaccines hold the key to solving supply shortages of the medication?

Dr. Sumontra Chakrabati of Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga was interviewed by Khaled Iwamura of insauga.com and he says tests are now underway in the United Kingdom are showing promising results and if successful, can help healthcare professionals deal with availability issues, such as the one Canada now faces.

Vaccines currently distributed around the world require two doses of the same brand taken weeks apart.

The belief up until now is that both doses had to be of the same kind.

However, because of the shortage of the various brands and erratic delivery rollout, concerns have been raised that the first dose may be wasted if the second dose is not available during the required timeframe.

As a result, medical experts are experimenting mixing the vaccine, which if proved effective, could lead to giving people whichever one is available.

“So maybe you get the first dose of AstraZeneca and the second dose of Pfizer. This might be very helpful in the future and we really want to know these things,” said Dr. Chakrabati. “But as long as we get vaccinated that is the important thing.”

The challenge posed by the mix experiments is to see if the different brands — which use different technologies — can co-exist to effectively to stop a person from contracting the virus.

The U.K. research is expected to take over a year to determine if the method can be applied successfully.

Here is the full interview with Dr. Sumontra Chakrabati of Trillium Health Partners interviewed by Khaled Iwamura of insauga.com:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by insauga | Mississauga (@insauga)