WASHINGTON: People who received Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine may benefit from a booster dose of Pfizer or Moderna, preliminary results of a US study published Wednesday showed.
The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was eagerly awaited in the United States because it looked at the possibility of “mixing” vaccines — using a different vaccine than the initial doses for the booster shot — which is not currently allowed in the country.
The study was conducted on 458 adults who had been vaccinated with one of three US-approved brands (Pfizer, Moderna or J&J) for at least 12 weeks.
These three groups were each divided into three new groups to receive one of the available vaccines as a booster. The nine groups consisted of about 50 people each.
Researchers then analyzed antibody levels 15 days after the booster shot.
For people originally inoculated with J&J, antibody levels were four times higher after a J&J booster, 35 times higher after a Pfizer booster and 76 times higher after a Moderna booster.
And antibody levels for those who had originally received Moderna shots were higher “irrespective of the booster vaccine administered,” when compared with those who had initially received Pfizer or J&J, the study said.
Additionally, “no safety concerns were identified” after booster doses were administered, it found.
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, has several limitations, however.
The number of participants was small, and the immune response could evolve over time, beyond the 15 days observed during the study.
“Important not to get too carried away with the findings,” tweeted Peter Hotez, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine.
Results from trials on a second J&J booster shot conducted by the company itself were “impressive,” he said.
The NIH study should fuel discussions by a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expert committee, which is scheduled to consider applications for a booster dose from Moderna and J&J on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
A booster from Pfizer has already been approved in the United States for certain populations, such as people aged 65 or older, adults with high-risk medical conditions and those in jobs where they are frequently exposed to the coronavirus.
Moderna or Pfizer booster works better for people vaccinated with J&J: study
https://arab.news/bjy5f
Moderna or Pfizer booster works better for people vaccinated with J&J: study
- The study was conducted on 458 adults who had been vaccinated with one of three US-approved brands (Pfizer, Moderna or J&J) for at least 12 weeks.
Greek coast guard search for 15 after migrant boat found adrift
- The two survivors reported that the vessel had become unstable due to bad weather and there was no means of getting shelter, food or water
ATHENS: Greek coast guard were on Monday searching for 15 people who fell into the water from a migrant boat that was found drifting off the coast of Crete with 17 bodies on board.
The 17 fatalities, all of them men, were discovered on Saturday on the craft, which was taking on water and partially deflated, some 26 nautical miles (48 kilometers) southwest of the island.
Post-mortem examinations were being carried out to determine how they died but Greek public television channel ERT suggested they may have suffered from hypothermia or dehydration.
A Greek coast guard spokeswoman told AFP that two survivors reported that “15 people fell in the water” after the motor cut out on Thursday, then the vessel drifted for two days.
At the time, Crete and much of the rest of Greece was battered by heavy rain and storms.
The two survivors reported that the vessel had become unstable due to bad weather and there was no means of getting shelter, food or water.
The vessel had 34 people on board and had left the Libyan port of Tobruk on Wednesday, the Greek port authorities said. Most of those who died came from Sudan and Egypt.
It was initially spotted by a Turkish-flagged cargo ship on Saturday, triggering a search that included ships and aircraft from the Greek coast guard and the European Union border agency Frontex.
Migrants have been trying to reach Crete from Libya for the last year, as a way of entering the European Union. But the Mediterranean crossing is perilous.
In Brussels, the EU’s 27 members on Monday backed a significant tightening of immigration policy, including the concept of returning failed asylum-seekers to “return hubs” outside the bloc.
The UN refugee agency said more than 16,770 asylum seekers in the EU have arrived on Crete since the start of the year — more than any other island in the Aegean Sea.
Greece’s conservative government has also toughened its migration policy, suspending asylum claims for three months, particularly those coming to Crete from Libya.
