Delaying vaccine will ‘save thousands of lives’: Professor

Delaying a second dose of coronavirus vaccine will “save thousands of lives” and may provide better protection in the long run, a top UK Government vaccine adviser has said.

Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said there was “no real evidence” that a quicker follow-up dose was more effective.

It comes as other medical professionals continue to criticise the delay, with one GP describing it as an “unregulated and unlicensed trial”.

“We do believe you should have a second dose but we do believe that that can be delayed,” Prof Harnden said.

He cited data from a study of the Moderna vaccine – which uses a similar technology to the Pfizer vaccine – which showed 1,000 people had 90% immunity two months after receiving one dose.

“If you look at the Astrazeneca data – which I accept is a different technology – it may be the longer you leave the second dose the better protection you have,” he said.

“Hopefully not only will this strategy get more people immunised and save thousands and thousands of lives, it may in the end give protection to the population as a whole.”

He added that although data from Israel indicated that immunity after a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine could be as low as 33%, further examination of these results was needed.

It comes after the British Medical Association wrote to the chief medical officer for England urging a rollout rethink, highlighting the maximum gap of six weeks between Pfizer jabs mandated by the World Heath Organisation.