Combining AstraZeneca and mRNA COVID-19 vaccines is effective: Danish study

COPENHAGEN: Combining AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine with a second dose from either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna's jab provides "good protection", Denmark's State Serum Institute said on Monday.

A growing number of countries are looking at switching to different COVID-19 vaccines for second doses, a measure particularly necessary in Denmark after health authorities discontinued inoculations with AstraZeneca's vaccine in April over rare side-effect concerns. More than 144,000 Danes, mostly frontline personnel in the health sector and the elderly, received their first jab with AstraZeneca's vaccine but were subsequently vaccinated with either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna's shots.