NewsPoints AstraZeneca has higher efficacy with Medigen: study

Researchers running a trial in Taiwan, China have found that a combination of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine and the locally-developed Medigen shot is more effective than two doses of AstraZeneca, reported Taipei Times.

The trial examined 100 people aged 22 to 62 divided into two groups – one was vaccinated with two AstraZeneca doses, while the other received a first dose of AstraZeneca and a second dose of Medigen.

Team leader Chen Chih-jung said the geometric mean titers (GMTs) of neutralizing antibodies in the mix-and-match group after 10 days were 1.8 times higher than in the AstraZeneca group. After 28 days, the level was 1.1 times higher in the mix-and-match group than in the AstraZeneca group.

The GMTs were twice as high when the Medigen dose was given four to six weeks after the AstraZeneca dose, rather than an interval of eight to 10 weeks, Chen said.

Meanwhile, another study at the same hospital tracked levels of neutralizing antibodies in 683 hospital employees inoculated with AstraZeneca and Moderna.

According to Chen, in a mix-and-match group, the level of neutralizing antibodies was far from ideal when a Moderna dose was given more than 12 weeks after a first dose of AstraZeneca.