Britain to test the combination of the two Pfizer as well as AstraZeneca vaccines.
Key sentence:
- Britain released a trial to determine the immune responses produced in doses of Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca.
- When they have been approved and rolled out, more vaccines are planned to be added to the trial.
- Initial findings may inform the deployment of vaccines in the second quarter of the year, said Matthew Snape.
On Thursday, Britain released a trial to determine the immune responses produced if doses of Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca Plc’s COVID-19 vaccines are coupled in a two-shot schedule.
Data on vaccinating citizens with the two separate forms of coronavirus vaccines, the British researchers behind the trial said, may help to explain whether vaccines can be carried out globally with greater versatility. It is expected that initial information on immune responses will be produced about June.
The immunity responses of a preliminary dose of Pfizer vaccine followed by an AstraZeneca booster will be tested in the study, and vice versa, at intervals of 4 to 12 weeks.
With a 12-week gap around two doses of the same vaccine, both the mRNA shot developed by Pfizer and Biontech and the adenovirus viral vector vaccine produced by Oxford University and AstraZeneca are presently being carried out in Britain.
When they have been approved and rolled out, more vaccines are planned to be added to the trial.
Study recruitment begins on Thursday, including over 800 participants planned to participate, the researchers said. This makes it much smaller than the clinical trials used to individually assess the vaccines’ effectiveness.
The overall effectiveness of the shot combinations will not be tested in the trial. Still, researchers will test antibody and T-cell responses and check for any unwanted side effects.
Initial findings may inform the deployment of vaccines in the second quarter of the year, said Matthew Snape, an Oxford vaccinologist leading the study.
“We would get some outcomes through, we hope, by June maybe around that will notify the use of booster shots in the general public,” he told media.
The trial aims to recruit individuals over the age of 50 who could be at greater risk than younger individuals who have not already been vaccinated.
The shot of AstraZeneca is also being studied in conjunction with Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine. The research head of the British drugmaker has said that further work should be performed on mixing vaccines.
