Is it beneficial to get inoculated by two Covid vaccines instead of one?

KARACHI: At a time when a vast majority of people in Pakistan are desperately trying to get vaccinated at the earliest, some people are looking for the opportunity to get vaccinated with two or more types of vaccines but is it recommended or even safe for them to mix and match different Covid-19 vaccines?

“There is no harm in getting vaccinated with more than one vaccine. It is even beneficial for the person who is getting more than one type of vaccines for protection against Covid-19,” was the response of physician and VC University of Health Sciences, Lahore Prof. Javed Akram when asked by The News about the issue.

Prof Akram is the Principal Investigator of phase III clinical trials of two Chinese vaccines, including single-dose Convidecia by CanSino Biologics Inc and triple-dose vaccine developed by Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Company Limited. He said although no conclusive evidence of mix and match of different vaccines is available as yet, but there is still no harm in getting jabs of different vaccines.

“Whether it is the new mRNA vaccines like Pfizer-BioNtech or Moderna or the conventional Chinese, Russian or British vaccines, there is no harm if a person gets inoculated by more than one vaccine. It is in fact beneficial,” he declared.

The UHS Lahore Vice Chancellor, who is also the President of Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine (PSIM), said that several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and China were conducting human trials by applying more than one vaccine to assess if it generates a better immune response as compared to a single vaccine. To a query, Prof. Javed Akram said in the Pakistan scenario, if one gets inoculated by the two-dose Chinese Sinopharm, he or she ‘can also’ go for the Russian Sputnik V vaccine which is privately available.

He said, so far, no country has declared ‘any particular vaccine mandatory’ and it is likely to remain this way in the rest of 2021, but hastened to underline the unpredictability of future in the rapidly-changing world. Another public health expert Dr. Shahzad Ali Khan was of the opinion that currently it is not recommended to get inoculated by multiple Covid-19 vaccines, emphasising at the moment only one vaccine should be taken for protection against the contagion.

“But trials are underway all over the world to assess if mix and match of different vaccines can offer more immunity against Covid-19,” Dr. Shahzad Ali Khan, who is the head of Department of Public Health at Health Services Academy (HAS) Islamabad, said.

Asked if European states or the US government could ban the immigration of people not vaccinated by some particular vaccines, he opined that they will only ask for vaccination certificates at the moment as there is an extreme shortage of vaccines globally, besides no single vaccine has proven its 100 percent efficacy against the pandemic.

Against that backdrop, at this point in time particularly in 2021, it is unlikely that any one vaccine is specified. Currently, the emphasis is “to get vaccinated.” However, once majority of the world gets vaccinated in the coming years, the US, EU may designate selected vaccines as an immigration requirement. “Currently, we all must get vaccinated as soon as possible. Some protection is so much better than no protection at all. The Chinese vaccines offer good protection, especially Sinopharm,” Dr Khan added.

But the renowned infectious diseases expert associated with the Aga Khan University Hospital, Dr. Faisal Mehmood was more cautious in responding to the question if inoculation by different vaccines was a good idea, saying: “Such studies are underway around the world. But their results are awaited.” Asked if one could get more than one vaccine in Pakistan, he responded: “As the entire immunisation programme is linked to NADRA data base, perhaps the system will not allow it. But people may opt for another jab unofficially.”

Similarly, an official of the national immunization program ruled out any hindrance in getting privately vaccinated after getting inoculated by Sinopharm or CanSino’s at the government-run Adult Vaccination Centers.