While vaccinations against COVID-19 are moving normally towards a fourth installment, following the formula is starting to get a little tiresome. There are many different guidelines from both CDC as well as from FDA.
According to the two government agencies booster vaccinations may not need to be given with vaccines of a particular companys.
U.S. agencies say there is evidence that taking a souvenir from the company from which you did not get your initial vaccination could be beneficial.
The biggest benefit seems to come from getting her souvenir Modern or Pfizer after taking Johnson & Johnson's single dose, although they acknowledge benefits and from mixing boosters between Modern and Pfizer.
In October 2021, the FDA expanded the recommended authorizations for COVID-19 boosters to include “…the use of each of the available vaccines as a heterologous (“mix and match”) booster dose in selected individuals after completion of the initial vaccinating them with a different available vaccine. "
A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine in March 2022 examined the effects of amplifier mixing and matching and came to a similar conclusion, explaining that “Homologous amplification provided a wide range of immunogenicity responses and heterologous amplification provided similar or higher levels . "
The three main options for COVID-19 vaccination in the US right now are the vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. The vaccines of Moderna and Pfizer are mRNA vaccines two doses, a technology developed in the laboratory to teach cells how to create a protein that will activate the immune response needed to fight the virus.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is also available either as a surrogate for people who cannot or do not want to receive mRNA vaccines and is the most typical type of formula. It requires a single dose (as opposed to the two needed by Moderna and Pfizer) and instead of using mRNA technology for defense, it uses a weakened or inactive microbe to help the body learn how to fight it. Regardless of the version of the vaccine, the CDC states that your vaccination will not be "complete" until two weeks after your final dose.
Of the three vaccine options, CDC recommends Moderna or Pfizer mRNA versions over Johnson & Johnson's most standard vaccine. All three companies also have two additional amplifiers.
To be clear, mixing and pairing is not recommended for the initial vaccination and if you start the first round of any COVID-19 vaccine that requires a second dose, make sure the second dose comes from the same source.
According to US government agencies the amplifiers are safe to take alternatively.
If all else fails, get ideas from others, as scientists are still discovering a mutating virus. Many times the researches contradict each other, and the virus that we were once told would disappear with the vaccinations, continues to circulate among us.
"Only rests for a while and pulls back to glory"
