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  • Ema: vaccine mix could be used, but little data so far

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July 14, 2021 On the so-called heterologous vaccination strategy (or mix of vaccines) in the vaccination campaign against Covid-19, applied in some countries, "there is a good scientific basis for expecting it to be a safe and effective strategy".



And again "The use of a heterologous vaccination strategy can allow for faster protection of the population and a better use of the available vaccine stocks", add the experts, but

currently, the EMA and the ECDC specify "are not able to formulate definitive recommendations on the use of different Covid-19 vaccines for the two doses ".

This is reported by the European Medicines Agency (Ema) and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Ecdc), in a joint note.



However, they recall, "preliminary results from studies in Spain, Germany and the UK suggest a satisfactory immune response and no safety concerns." On the hypothesis of

a third dose of the anti-Covid vaccine

after completing the vaccination cycle, "at the moment it is too early to confirm if and when it will be needed".



 "There is still not enough data from vaccination campaigns and ongoing studies to understand how long the protection from vaccines will last, also considering the spread of variants", remark the experts.



"Any new evidence that becomes available on this topic will be rapidly examined - ensure Ema and Ecdc - The data on the efficacy coming from 'real life' studies from Europe and other parts of the world are of particular interest to integrate the data clinical trials investigating booster doses ".



"There are still 10 countries in Europe where over 30% of those over 80 have not yet completed the recommended anti-Covid vaccination cycle" is highlighted in the note in which they exhort to "complete the vaccination cycle" because "it is essential to benefit from the most high level of virus protection ".



Some studies "suggest that both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine such as Comirnaty (Pfizer / BioNTech, ed), Spikevax (Moderna, ed) or Vaxzevria (AstraZeneca) are needed to provide adequate protection against the Delta variant," 'Ema and the ECDC.



Above all, it is necessary "to vaccinate the elderly and the frail - they underline - which are the groups of population that risk serious illness and death in the event of contagion".