A new study conducted by researchers in Spain has found that vaccinating people with both an Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID 19 vaccine and a Pfizer-BioNtech COVID 19 vaccine triggers a potent immune response against COVID 19.
Preliminary results presented by the team Tuesday were the results form the study conducted with 663 participants are the first showing the benefits of combining vaccine doses.
This potential could be particularly helpful for nations struggling with fluctuating doses of the vaccines, where one may not be readily available.
The study was led by the Carlos III Health Institute in Madrid. The study was conducted on participants who had already received the AstraZeneca shot, with two-thirds receiving a Pfizer-BioNtech shot randomly at least eight weeks after their initial first shot by the AstraZeneca vaccine. After the second dose, participants were shown to have significantly higher levels of antibodies, which recognized and inactivated COVID 19.
This strategy of mixing different vaccines is similar to one used against Ebola.
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Note: The AstraZeneca vaccine developed by Oxford has not yet received emergency approval from the FDA, but is under consideration.