Under the title "COVID-19: Can a Booster Shot be Taken from a Different Vaccine?", Al Arabiya reported that since last year, COVID-19 vaccines have offered a glimmer of hope to the world, potentially putting an end to the pandemic. As there seems to be a need for booster doses of the vaccines, the important question arises: can the third dose be from a different vaccine than the first two?
In this context, according to a report published by NBC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) remains skeptical about the option of mixing different types of vaccines due to a lack of data. Dr. Doran Fink, Deputy Director of the FDA's Vaccine Division, stated that the booster dose decision currently includes recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, meaning that those eligible for the third dose are those who received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine. This indicates that those who received Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines will have to wait.
Reassurance Message
Dr. Vivek Murthy sought to reassure recipients of Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines during a recent conference held at the White House, stating, "Your health is very important, and we must ensure your protection against COVID-19. Therefore, the FDA is working with Moderna and Johnson to expedite data processing to provide recommendations regarding the booster dose."
Dr. Christina Rostad from Emory University School of Medicine mentioned to NBC News that she expects booster doses to be approved in the near future, especially since they utilize similar technologies in their vaccines.
Limited Information
Rostad added that so far, mixing vaccine doses has not been approved, particularly because the information available on this matter remains very limited. Dr. William Moss from Johns Hopkins University stated that there is no immunological reason to believe that mixing vaccines would pose a problem in any way, especially for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. He expressed interest in seeing a combination of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines with a Johnson & Johnson dose.
It is worth noting that the FDA has approved booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine for those aged 65 and older. Moderna has also applied for authorization to provide a third booster dose of its vaccine.
