In the Guardian today -
Britain is the first country in the world to approve and use the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, just as it was first with Pfizer/BioNTech’s. In a further trailblazing decision, it is giving everyone a first shot of either of those vaccines, with the second shot delayed to 12 weeks afterwards instead of the three- or four-week interval in the trials. And now it has emerged that NHS staff have permission, in limited circumstances, to mix and match the vaccines. With two different vaccines being used and supplies not guaranteed – particularly of Pfizer’s, which is in high demand around the world – the NHS in England has said people can be given a different second dose from the first, if absolutely necessary. So those who got the Pfizer jab first time around might – if supplies have run out (or if there is no record of which they had first) – be given the AstraZeneca version, says Public Health England’s Green Book for health staff on vaccine use. Scotland is following suit, although Wales says it will not
It’s not official policy, said Dr Mary Ramsay, Public Health England’s head of immunisations. “We do not recommend mixing the Covid-19 vaccines – if your first dose is the Pfizer vaccine you should not be given the AstraZeneca vaccine for your second dose and vice versa.” But on the “extremely rare occasions” where the same vaccine is unavailable or it is unknown which jab the patient received, it is “better to give a second dose of another vaccine than not at all