The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Tuesday said it is evaluating the possibility of offering a mix-and-match approach combining the AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines for the general public later this month.
Currently, Taiwan only allows medical workers who received their first jab of the AstraZeneca vaccine at least 10 weeks earlier to choose the Moderna vaccine as their second shot.
The mixing of these two vaccine brands could become an option for the general public later this month, CECC spokesperson Chuang Jen-hsiang (???) said at a daily press briefing.
His statement came after the CECC announced in late October that Taiwan will soon allow the general public to mix-and-match COVID-19 vaccines for the first time, starting as early as the first half of November, with people who received an AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine jab at least 10 weeks earlier eligible to get a Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT) shot as a second dose.
Chuang said the plan to include the Moderna vaccine in the mix-and-match approach is based on the fact Taiwan expects to take delivery of more of the vaccine brand later this month.
As to how many Moderna and Pfizer-BNT doses will be allocated for people looking to get them as their second jab after a first shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Chuang said the numbers are still being evaluated.
At a separate event on Tuesday, CECC advisor Chang Shan-Chwen (???) said the results from domestic vaccine mixing tests have been released.
Based on research done by National Taiwan University Hospital, mixing the AstraZeneca and Moderna jabs gave a higher level of antibodies than two jabs of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Chang said.
The research also found that results improved with longer waits between the two shots being administered.
Chang said 400 people were involved in the trial, with samples taken 14 and 28 days after the second jab.
Research participants were divided into four groups -- two AstraZeneca jabs with the doses eight weeks apart; AstraZeneca + Moderna with the doses eight weeks apart; AstraZeneca + Moderna with doses four weeks apart; and two Moderna jabs with doses four weeks apart.
The antibody levels in those who received two doses of the mixed vaccines (AstraZeneca and Moderna) was roughly the same as that for those who got two shots of the Moderna vaccine, Chang added.
According to the CECC adviser, more samples will be taken at the three-month mark.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel