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Alternating doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines generate robust immune responses against COVID-19, according to researchers running the University of Oxford-led Com-COV study.

Mockup of two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine with needle
  • Mixed schedules involving Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca generate strong immune response against SARS-CoV2 spike IgG protein
  • Doses administered four weeks apart; data for 12-week dose interval due soon.
  • Immune responses differed according to order of immunisation, with Oxford-AstraZeneca followed by Pfizer-BioNTech generating the better immune response out of the two mixed schedules.

In a paper published on the Lancet pre-print server, they report that both ‘mixed’ schedules (Pfizer-BioNTech followed by Oxford-AstraZeneca, and Oxford-AstraZeneca followed by Pfizer-BioNTech) induced high concentrations of antibodies against the SARS-CoV2 spike IgG protein when doses were administered four weeks apart.

This means all possible vaccination schedules involving the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines could potentially be used against COVID-19.

Read the full story on the University of Oxford website