Can Covid vaccines be mixed at all and which one should you receive?
WE PUT YOUR QUESTIONS TO THE EXPERTS
MORE than 45 million people have had their first Covid-19 vaccination – and 34 million their second.
But with the country in a race against time to vaccinate after an increase in cases at the end of May, and with clinics popping up which only deliver one type of the vaccine, people have asked if they will be protected against the virus if they have different types of first and second doses.
LeicestershireLive put this question, and others about Covid-19 vaccines, to Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG):
CAN YOU SWAP VACCINES BETWEEN FIRST AND SECOND JAB?
The short answer is no. Everyone should have the same vaccine for their first and second dose, according to a CCG spokesman.
This is based on the official guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
However, a trial by the Oxford Vaccine Group is studying the use of different combinations of Covid-19 vaccines with the idea of making the rollout more flexible.
Data from the trials has suggested mixed dose schedules could be effective, but the JCVI guidance remains.
The booking system is designed to make sure everyone receives a second jab of the same vaccine they had for the first, so anyone going through the normal channels for their vaccine is not given a choice of swapping.
WHAT ABOUT POP-UP CLINICS?
Each drop-in clinic only offers one type of vaccine.
It should be impossible for someone who has had one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to turn up to a Pfizer clinic and be given their second jab.
Staff will double check which vaccine people have already had and turn them away if the first jab was a different type.
WHICH VACCINE IS RIGHT FOR ME?
Despite links from the AstraZeneca vaccine to fatal blood clots, as in the case of Leicester mum Lucy Taberer, the Department for Health said such cases are incredibly rare.
It said there had been 200,000 cases of reactions to the AstraZeneca vaccination recorded to June 9, but only 390 of those were related to blood clots, of which 71 cases were fatal.
Anyone under the age of 40 or pregnant will “only usually be offered appointments for Pfizer or Moderna vaccines” according to the CCG.
However, anyone who has already received the first dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and had no serious side-effects should still be offered the same second dose.
The JCVI also advised that pregnant women in the UK should be offered Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines where available.
Side-effects have also been reported by people who have had the Pfizer and Moderna jabs.
If you do react badly to a vaccine, you will be referred to University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, which provides an allergy service.
Depending on the outcome of tests, doctors could recommend you are given an alternative vaccine.
In the instance where you have a severe reaction to the AstraZeneca vaccine and are offered an alternative for your second dose, you will only have one dose of the alternative which means you will not need to restart the two-dose schedule.
A CCG spokesman said: “You would be offered an alternative vaccine if you had serious side-effects to the first dose, such as a severe allergic reaction, or if the first vaccine is no longer available.
“For example, where a person has received a vaccine abroad for their first dose and the vaccine given is not available in the UK.”