EMA Endorses Mix-and-Match of COVID-19 Vaccines

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have signed off on the mixing and matching of COVID-19 booster shots, to be given three to six months after receiving a primary vaccination series.

The agencies said evidence from studies have indicated that using traditional inactivated vaccines and messenger RNA-based shots together produced “good levels of antibodies against the COVID-19 virus” as well as “a higher T-cell response than using the same vaccine.”

But the EMA and ECDC cautioned that more data will be needed to support the use of mixing and matching of COVID-19 shots for immunosuppressed individuals, including older people and those with chronic health problems.