London, Feb. 4, 2021 (AltAfrica)-A UK trial has been launched to see if giving people different Covid vaccines for their first and second doses works as well as the current approach of using the same type of vaccine twice.

The idea is to provide more flexibility with vaccine rollout and help deal with any potential disruption to supplies.

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Scientists say mixing jabs could also possibly give even better protection.

The vaccines minister said no changes would be made to the UK’s current approach until at least the summer.

Currently, official guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) says anyone already given the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca jab as part of the UK’s approved immunisation programme should get the same vaccine for both doses.

There is no suggestion this will change, although in very rare circumstances a different vaccine can be used – if only one vaccine is available, or it’s not known which was given for the first dose.

Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said the government’s taskforce had given about £7m to fund the study, but that findings would not be available until the summer and therefore “at the moment, we’re not changing anything at all”.

Previous experience suggests mixing vaccines could be a beneficial approach – some Ebola immunisation programmes involve mixing different jabs to improve protection, for example.

And Mr Zahawi told BBC Breakfast that this has been done with other vaccines such as jabs for hepatitis, polio and measles, mumps and rubella.

The Com-Cov study, run by the National Immunisation Schedule Evaluation Consortium, will involve more than 800 volunteers.

The study will be recruiting people aged 50 or older, who have not yet received a Covid vaccine, in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Bristol, Oxford and Southampton.

Some will receive the Oxford jab followed by the Pfizer vaccine or vice versa, four or 12 weeks apart.

Other vaccines may be added as they are approved by regulators.