- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has started a study to determine the safety and immunogenicity of different booster COVID-19 shots in adults who have already been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
- Run by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of NIH, the Phase 1/2 clinical trial will involve nearly 150 individuals who have already completed FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine regimens.
- The participants will receive a single booster dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine after 12 – 20 weeks from their initial vaccination regimen.
- In addition to messenger-RNA-based vaccines from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)/BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) and Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), the single-dose COVID-19 shot from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) have been granted the FDA’s emergency use authorizations.
- People who have not yet been immunized with an FDA authorized vaccine are also eligible to enter the study in a separate cohort giving them an initial two-dose Moderna COVID-19 vaccine regimen followed by a booster dose 12 – 20 weeks later.
- All trial participants will be followed for one year, and initial results are expected in late summer 2021.
- Despite the strong protection offered by currently authorized COVID-19 shots, “we need to prepare for the possibility of needing booster shots to counter waning immunity and to keep pace with an evolving virus,” noted NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci.
- “The results of this trial are intended to inform public health policy decisions on the potential use of mixed vaccine schedules should booster doses be indicated,” he added.
- Yesterday, Canada allowed the use of different combinations of coronavirus vaccines after supply constraints and rare side effects linked to the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN).