Officials in Britain “seem to have abandoned science completely now and are just trying to guess their way out of a mess.”

[Eastie77]

Such a shit-show. A mix and match of vaccines with no data driven evidence that this approach even works? Meanwhile the increased gap between the two jabs surely means a lot of people will get the first but not the second (most important) one. As the article points out, this chaotic roll out is just going to diminish trust in the vaccinations full stop

www.nytimes.com/2021/01/01/health/coronavirus-vaccines-britain.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

The research into Gulf War syndrome would be a place to start.

They are researching the efficacy of mix and match vaccination now. It wont become an actuality until the data is back.

just randomly experimenting with time limits and mixing vaccines

It’s not ‘just randomly experimenting’.

Really pissed off with the NYT on this. Vaccination programmes are massively important and deserve honest and accurate reporting, not scaremongering stuff like this which is only going to serve to put people off vaccines.

Despite the dramatic headline and opening post to this thread, it is pretty clear from the article linked to that mixed dosing is only being suggested at the last resort and will not be standard practice.

According to Britain’s new guidance, “every effort should be made” to complete a dosing regimen with the same shot first used. But when “the same vaccine is not available, or if the first product received is unknown, it is reasonable to offer one dose of the locally available product” the second time around.

This option is preferred if the individual is likely to be at immediate high risk or is considered unlikely to attend again

@GoldenOmber

That’s poor reporting. The guidance they’re talking about says that every effort should be made to give people a second dose that matches their first dose, but if the type if vaccine used for the first dose isn’t known, give them what’s available. It does not say “oh whatever, mix and match.”

Yes, the guidance is as per attached.

The opinions and questions being asked are nothing new. They are the normal, and indeed necessary, questions that are asked about EVERY piece new research.

The difference is that Meeja Hacks and the general public are now reading the perfectly normal scientific questioning and assuming there is something amiss.

Scaremongering that needs to be challenged whenever it is seen!

Oh... And it isn't the government that makes the decisions about vaccines.

That's just more disinformation to feed The Fear!!!

From Sky News:

Public Health England advise against mixing vaccines

Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisations at PHE, said: "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.

"There may be extremely rare occasions where the same vaccine is not available, or where it is not known what vaccine the patient received. Every effort should be made to give them the same vaccine, but where this is not possible it is better to give a second dose of another vaccine than not at all."

@MichelleofzeResistance

The research into Gulf War syndrome would be a place to start.

I understood that was thought to be due to the addition of squalene to the booster, rather than mixing and matching.