Experts are saying that mixing and matching doses of the Covid-19 booster shots may be an effective approach. With growing numbers of Covid-19 booster shots becoming available, this seems to be the best approach to follow in the future.
“I hope that when the FDA and CDC review data around Moderna and Johnson & Johnson that they will allow a mix-and-match approach,” CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen said Friday.
US Food and Drug Administration vaccine advisers will meet on October 14th and 15th to discuss applications for booster doses from Moderna and J&J’s vaccine arm Janssen. Also, on October 20th and 21st, vaccine experts with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are slated to discuss the same course of action.
Pfizer had released a booster shot for emergency use authorization in late September for people 65 and older, people at high risk of severe disease, and people whose jobs put them at risk of infection.
“Allowing the mix-and-match option is more convenient to those who initially received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines in the event either booster shot isn’t available,” stated Wen, a former health commissioner for the city of Baltimore.
Wen also said, “The mRNA vaccines really should be interchangeable.”
Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines both use genetic material called messenger RNA (mRNA) to deliver immunity, but they use differing doses and slightly different formulations. J&J’s Janssen vaccine uses an inactivated common cold virus called adenovirus — a viral vector — to carry genetic instructions into the body.
But Wen warned that people who received the J&J vaccine may need to reconsider the risks associated with taking its booster dose.
“We know that there is an association between the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and a very rare –but extremely serious blood clotting disorder– in women under the age of 50,” Wen told CNN. She also claimed, that while she was fully vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, she’d prefer to get a different vaccine booster.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stated last month that mix-and- match studies are on the way. He also said during a White House Covid-19 briefing, “The mix-and-match study in which you look at Moderna as the boost against the other three, those data are now available.”
The data hasn’t been published or submitted to the FDA at this current time.
Already, CDC data shows more than 6 million fully vaccinated Americans have received a booster dose. This shows an average of 390,444 people are getting a booster shot each day, while only 288,105 people are starting their vaccination series each day and 276,539 people are becoming fully vaccinated each day.
Plus, certain people who are immune-compromised can get a third dose, although it’s not technically considered a booster because it’s likely they did not fully respond to the first two doses.
Even after viewing these numbers of those willing to vaccinate, experts are still cautioning that the primary public health focus must remain on getting initial vaccine shots into the arms of the millions of Americans who aren’t vaccinated at all.”
“As a country, we are definitely trending in the right direction — finally,” Wen said. “The problem, though, is that people really need to look at where they are. Because while there are some places that are really doing very well with high vaccination rates and low infection rates, there are also other places that are still trending in the wrong direction.”
Covid-19 infections are down by nearly 35% from last month, and the number of people fighting the virus in hospitals dropped by more than 31% from a month earlier, according to data from Johns Hopkins University and US Department of Health and Human Services, respectively.
But experts, including Wen and US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, are warning against complacency as there are still areas showing upward trends in deaths and hospitalizations.
Even though it seems numbers are substantially dropping, health care providers and Wen are still concerned. These numbers are not a reason to take our foot off the accelerator and let our guards down.
Alabama is a perfect example of infections decreasing in recent weeks, but people are still dying from the disease at high rates.
State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said, “Very thankfully, we’ve had declines in our number of hospitalizations. We’re down to just over 1,000 in-patients in the state.” Dr. Harris acknowledged that numbers were still high, but said, “It’s still about two-thirds less than we were seeing a month or so ago.” They have not really seen a change in the number of deaths, unfortunately.
The state of Pennsylvania reported the highest number of Covid-19 hospitalizations since February, a spokesperson for the state’s health department said. Of the 3,001 people hospitalized with the virus, 680 were in intensive care units Thursday, officials said.
Meanwhile, a report from the CDC on Thursday showed that children from racial and ethnic minorities were far more likely to lose a parent or grandparent who takes care of them.
National Center for Health Statistics data through June showed that children of racial and ethnic minorities accounted for 65% of those who lost a primary caregiver, while White children accounted for 35%. That’s even though minorities account for just 39% of the US population.
Wen, Dr. Harris, and many other health care providers simply want citizens to be fully aware and educated when it comes to taking the vaccinations. A person has to be comfortable and confident before placing the vaccination into their body.