Health
Mixing COVID-19 vaccines a ‘dangerous trend,’ warns WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned people to not mix COVID-19 vaccines from different manufacturers, terming it a ‘dangerous trend’.
Chief Scientist of WHO, Soumya Swaminathan turned to twitter and wrote, “Individuals should not decide for themselves, public health agencies can, based on available data”.
She further added, “Data from mix and match studies of different vaccines are awaited - immunogenicity and safety both need to be evaluated”.
Soumya in an online briefing said, “It’s a little bit of a dangerous trend here. We are in a data-free, evidence-free zone as far as mix and match”
“It will be a chaotic situation in countries if citizens start deciding when and who will be taking a second, a third and a fourth dose,” she added.
Health experts have also stressed over Swaminathan’s comments that available data shows mixing vaccines is safe and effective, providing a significant immune response against COVID-19.
As per preliminary results from University of Oxford study—published May 12 found that mixing the Pfizer-BioNtech and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines may increase the frequency of mild to moderate side effects.
Reportedly, the symptoms were short-lived—lasting no longer than a few days and there were no hospitalizations or other safety concerns.
In June, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) stated that people who received first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine should get an mRNA vaccine — Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna — for their second dose, unless contraindicated.
The vaccines can be safely mixed and matched in most scenarios, NACI said.
NACI also promoted the mixture of mRNA vaccines, saying those vaccines can be interchangeable if the same product was not readily available for the second dose.
Canada is one of several countries that has been mixing and matching approved vaccines.