The move could be a serious game-changer in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The Food and Drug Administration is officially approved mixing and matching Covid-19 booster shots. This means people will have the option of getting a different Covid-19 vaccine than their initial shot.
The bigger picture
While the FDA has already approved boosters for Pfizer, the decision also now paves the way for a third dosage of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also signed off on boosters for all three Covid-19 vaccines.
Why this matters
Health officials agree that this strategy would improve access to boosters by giving people more flexibility, simplifying the logistics of the vaccine rollout, addressing any supply issues with the vaccines, and reducing wait times for appointments for those trying to get their booster.
What the data suggests
The science behind the mix and match strategy is promising. The National Institutes of Health released a preliminary study less than a week ago showing that mixing and matching Covid-19 vaccines is both safe and effective.
What the experts are saying
Epidemiologist Dr. Michael Mina, who’s an assistant professor at Harvard University, supports the move. “I think it’s a very smart decision by the FDA to move forward with mixing and matching,” Mina tells us. “There’s a plausible biological argument that it could even be better than just doing the exact same vaccine multiple times.”
Mina thinks it would be especially beneficial for those who received the Johnson & Johnson shot to use a different vaccine for their booster because the single-shot dose uses a different technology than Pfizer or Moderna to trigger an immune response. While Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines are made with messenger RNA (mRNA), the Johnson & Johnson shot instead uses a more traditional virus-based technology.
“I think that they’re going to benefit more from getting an mRNA vaccine as their booster,” Mina says, referring to those who opted for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
