Moderna and Novavax added to 'mix and match' COVID-19 vaccine trial - MarketWatch

trial looking at whether COVID-19 vaccines can be safely mixed has been expanded to include shots made by Moderna and Novavax, researchers announced on Wednesday.

The Com-Cov study, led by the University of Oxford, was launched in February to compare the effect of administering a first dose of the AstraZeneca–Oxford.

The expanded study will look to recruit adults aged over 50 who have received their first vaccination in the past eight to 12 weeks.

These volunteers, who will have received either drug company AstraZeneca’s vaccine, which was developed together with the University of Oxford, or the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine, will randomly receive either the same shot, or the one from biotech Moderna.

“If we can show that these mixed schedules generate an immune response that is as good as the standard schedules, and without a significant increase in the vaccine reactions, this will potentially allow more people to complete their COVID-19 immunization course more rapidly,” said Matthew Snape, associate professor in pediatrics and vaccinology at the University of Oxford and chief investigator on the trial, in a statement

Read: Moderna COVID-19 vaccine rollout begins in England, giving under 30s alternative to AstraZeneca

The expanded study comes after the rollout of the Moderna vaccine in England started this week across the U.K

The Novavax vaccine was found to be 96% effective in preventing cases caused by the original version of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in a late-stage trial conducted in the U.K

Results from the original Com-Cov trial, which only used the AstraZeneca and Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine, are expected in May, while results of the second phase should come out by June or July, although the study will run for a year