In a new study from University Hospital Southampton, researchers found six different COVID-19 boosters are safe and provoke strong immune responses in people who have previously received a two-dose course of Oxford–AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.
Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine has now been deployed in more than 180 countries and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in more than 145 countries.
Two doses of Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have shown 79% and 90% protection, respectively, against hospitalization and death after six months in several studies.
However, protection against COVID-19 infection wanes over time. That has driven the consideration of boosters to protect the most vulnerable, lessen pressure on health services, and mitigate economic impacts.
In the study, the team looked at safety, immune response (immunogenicity) and side-effects of seven vaccines when used as a third booster jab.
The vaccines studied were Oxford–AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, NVX-CoV2373 (Novavax [NVX]), Ad26.COV2.S (Janssen [Ad26]), Moderna [mRNA1273], VLA2001 (Valneva [VLA]), and CVnCov (Curevac [CVn]).
The side effect data show all seven vaccines are safe to use as 3rd doses, with acceptable levels of inflammatory side effects like injection site pain, muscle soreness, fatigue.
The findings showed that a wide range of vaccines, using different technologies, show benefits as a third dose to either AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech.
The team says that gives confidence and flexibility in developing booster programs here in the UK and globally, with other factors like supply chain and logistics also in play.
It’s important to note that these results relate only to these vaccines as boosters to the two primary vaccinations, and to the immune response they drive at 28 days.
Further work will generate data at three months and one year after people have received their boosters, which will provide insights into their impact on long-term protection and immunological memory.
If you care about COVID, please read studies about this vaccine may fight all COVID-19 variants effectively and findings of the drug that could inhibit COVID-19 virus, may help treat infections.
For more information about the pandemic, please see recent studies about what happens when the COVID-19 vaccines enter the body, and results showing that antibodies from vaccination nearly 3 times higher than from COVID-19 infection.
The study is published in The Lancet. One author of the study is Professor Saul Faust.
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