Lancet study could bode well for mix-and-match COVID-19 vaccination

[Image by Sam Moqadam on Unsplash]

The mRNA vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna appear to work well as a second dose in recipients of a single dose of the AstraZeneca AZD1222 vaccine.

A report in Lancet found that two doses of AstraZeneca’s AZD1222 vaccine were 50% effective. Recipients who received a dose of the AZD1222 vaccine followed by a dose of Moderna’s mRNA-1273 vaccine had adjusted vaccine effectiveness of 79%. Those who received an initial dose of AZD1222 followed by the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 vaccine saw vaccine effectiveness of 67%.

The report authors stopped short of claiming that a heterologous AZD1222 and mRNA prime-boost vaccination strategy is superior, concluding that it “may be an effective alternative to increase population immunity against COVID-19.”

“These results could have important implications for vaccination strategies and consequently in the battle against the…

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Johnson & Johnson to ask FDA to authorize COVID-19 booster

Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen division (NYSE:JNJ) is planning on requesting expanding the emergency use authorization (EUA) for its Ad26.COV2.S COVID-19 vaccine to include boosters.

The previous EUA covered a single dose of the vaccine.

Despite its initial advantage as a single-dose vaccine, Ad26.COV2.S has failed to match the popularity of the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.

Authorities in the U.S. and EU have linked the vaccine to extremely rare blood clotting episodes. And recently, officials at the European Medicines Agency found another possible link between the vaccine and clotting in deep veins in Ad26.COV2.S recipients, Reuters reported.

A recent CDC study found that a single dose of the Janssen vaccine was 71% effective in preventing hospitalization from COVID-19. By contrast, the two-dose Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines were 93% and 88% effective, respectively.

Janssen said an additional dose of Ad26.COV2.S vaccine b…

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Is J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine linked to tinnitus?

In Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) Phase 3 trial for the Ad26.COV2.S COVID-19 vaccine, six vaccine recipients developed tinnitus or ringing in the ears.

In five of those individuals, tinnitus had either resolved or was resolving. The condition was unresolved in the other trial volunteer.

No placebo recipients developed the condition.

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