Fauci says data from NIH's mix-and-match Covid vaccine booster trials will soon be ready

[Baitball Blogger]

White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that safety and efficacy data on pairing a primary regimen of Covid vaccines from one manufacturer with boosters from another could be available within the next two weeks.

Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorized Pfizer’s booster for seniors and the medically vulnerable Friday, only recipients of Pfizer’s first two doses are eligible for the third shot. But the National Institutes of Health is on the verge of concluding trials that mixed boosters and initial doses from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, Fauci said at a White House Covid briefing.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/28/fauci-says-data-from-nihs-mix-and-match-covid-vaccine-booster-trials-will-soon-be-ready.html

[FarPoint]

1. I am not going to mix and match....

I choose to say consistent....Moderna was my first series so I will stick with Moderna....I will review their data ....I could change my opinion but I tend to fall with sticking with what has been smooth and uneventful right now.

[Baitball Blogger]

3. I think the issue is more for Phizer vaccines.

The data for Moderna looks like it's immunity potential is holding well over time.

Just my opinion.

[msfiddlestix]

6. Same here, but I still find info on boosters confusing

I had been going with the info that a booster six months following the initial vaccinations regime was recommended. But now I'm reading and hearing conflicting and confusing recommendations, and protocols.

one point of confusion for me, is what is the difference between a third dose (for me would be moderna) the same thing as a "booster", or is there a significant difference?

another point of confusion is the availability for groups my age (71) ?

I'm with Kaiser, but I didn't get my initial shots with them, because they didn't provide it for my age group back in Feb/March for reasons that still confuse me when Safeway provided it for 65 and older. Still flummoxes me why the distribution was not equally available.

In any event, it's been just past six months and I'm eager to get that third shot So I go to "my kp" on line and I have a message right at the top that I'm not "ready" to have my booster scheduled. Yet, other sources suggests I am in terms of the six month protocol.

Also, I can feel in the air that the "flu season" is here. I know that isn't scientific, but it is true none the less. So I want to get a flu shot now as well, which are available everywhere. However I'm hearing I should wait until at least mid October for the more current vaccinations dealing with the current strains. Also, are there any contraindicating issues receiving both the flu shots and the booster? Advise Nurse said: No, that Kaiser is giving patients both covid booster and flu vaccination at the same time. That seems wrong, but what do I know? I am not a medical professional.

These are questions I wrote in an email to my doctor yesterday. I hope to get some answers that make sense today. Information given when speaking with that "advise nurse" on the phone yesterday both felt both contradictory and confusing.


Time for clear and straight answers from medical profession. I hope I hear back from my doctor today.

[FarPoint]

7. I agree about the Booster message...

This focus on the Booster changes daily....so, hesitation follows.... that is understandable....Now compound that with media hype with healthcare workers not wanting to be vaccinated...tons of mixed messages there....I find only actually a few over all, a smaller percentage of health care workers not wanting to be vaccinated...but that is not the loudest voice...

Boosters message needs to be clear and consistent. It is not there yet....the message I mean...

[msfiddlestix]

9. Seems like the medical public relations groups should have seen this confusion a mile away

after all, this issue didn't begin yesterday. how to be proactive under these circumstances if beyond frustrating. But it is what it is.

Being patient was never a quality I could ever brag about, though I'm old enough to have learned to be by now.

No other choice, but to wait it out it seems.

[FarPoint]

11. I will probably just go on and get the Moderna soon...

Next week...then, by end of October, get the regular flu vaccine.

[msfiddlestix]

13. Sounds like a good plan. I wish I could play it out that way.

Maybe instead of waiting for response from my primary Doc, I'll just head on over to Walgreens for the booster, and then wait until later in Oct for the flu shot as well.

If I don't hear back from my doc today, I'll just go with that play too..

[MoonlitKnight]

17. Answers to some of your questions

one point of confusion for me, is what is the difference between a third dose (for me would be moderna) the same thing as a "booster", or is there a significant difference?

The first, second and third (booster) doses are the same. There is no difference. Possibly down the road “booster” doses may be different to address variants and with further study might have a different dosage. But for now they are the same.

In any event, it's been just past six months and I'm eager to get that third shot So I go to "my kp" on line and I have a message right at the top that I'm not "ready" to have my booster scheduled. Yet, other sources suggests I am in terms of the six month protocol.

If you had Moderna it has not yet been authorized for a third dose. So the length of time since second dose is not relevant yet. Only Phyzer is authorized for a third dose currently.

I'm hearing I should wait until at least mid October for the more current vaccinations dealing with the current strains

Where did you hear that? The annual flu shot is made based upon what the expected strains will be based upon what happened in the Southern Hemisphere during their flu season and other factors. There won’t be a different shot until next year. Only reason to wait is maybe if you are in a sunbelt state with a later flu season. Like Florida tends to get its flu outbreaks later.

Also, are there any contraindicating issues receiving both the flu shots and the booster?

No. get your flu shot. Unless you have some unique immune system issue, then consult your medical professionals.

Hopefully your doctor clears this up today. It’s always helpful to take notes when you see your doctor. Or record the conversation- they should happily agree. Also having someone with you may help as well.

[msfiddlestix]

19. Thank you.. your input is appreciated

I appreciate your input.. just finished reading this except below on this point..

Excerpt from Cnet article:

Booster vs. third dose: What's the difference, and which do you need?



A third or extra dose is different from a booster

Dr. Reynold Panettieri, director and vice chancellor of the Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine and Science Professor of Medicine, says that deciphering a booster dose "depends on the vaccine and what is required to achieve maximum immunity." And with all we don't know about the coronavirus, and the way our bodies build (and lose) immunity to it, it might not be appropriate to call any COVID-19 vaccine a "booster." In fact, it might be too early to use the term "booster" at all, at least scientifically.

---snip


I checked my kaiser correspondence, and see my doctor has not yet replied, which prompted me to "google" my questions and see where it landed.

Regarding FDA approval, I'm still puzzled why Phyzer is approved but not Moderna, especially since it's not really a booster, but a third dose. And there are local pharmacies providing Moderna (along with Phyzer) to the public, none the less. (Not Kaiser)

Regarding my source for the claim the Flu shot vaccination against current strains is more up to date in late October, ...

that is just chatter among neighbors. Not a fact checked source.

Merely opinions based on a conjecture that flu virus mutate quickly within the same season, rendering the stockpile of vaccinations inadequate or impotent for the mutant strains. I haven't researched the veracity of that theory. It just sort of seemed logical, since I feel it's fairly well established that viruses do mutate quickly and explains the occasions when someone inoculated with a flu vaccination will sometimes come down with a horrid case of the flu. cuz it the specific virus wasn't in existence apparently when that batch of vaccines were developed. Happened to me once about three or so years ago as well as others in my community. Doesn't prevent me from getting a flu shot every year though.


If my doctor is around, and not too busy and reads my email, he'll respond with a written commentary which is helpful for future reference. That is a plus with Kaiser. Not happy about some things, but nothing is perfect.

At the end of the day, it appears I will have to wait to get my Moderna from Kaiser, so maybe I'll schedule the flu shot now, and by the time it's "my turn" for the Moderna vax, there shouldn't be any impact with the two so close together.

Just the same it's weird to me that the "advise nurse" on the phone told me Kaiser is giving both Phyzer "boosters" and the flu shot in the same visit. That feels a little risky but.... guess not.

[MoonlitKnight]

20. Pfizer submitted its study results ahead of the others

That is why it is approved for a third dose and not Moderna yet. J&J will be later.

[ananda]

2. I should think mixing would be a good thing.

A friend of mine said yesterday that he was going
to get the other two vaccines, thinking that would
be a plus.

I told him I couldn't think of a reason why not.

[tavernier]

4. Why not? Beer with a shot of scotch and wine after always provides good entertainment.

Don’t mind me I’m just being silly, but that’s the first thing I thought of when I imagined mixing all three vaccines.

[ananda]

16. Well, this person has also already had Covid.

It's funny. I met with him and his assistant last May
and they had both had Covid and were not vaxxed.

He was actually resisting, but said he would get it
before traveling in October. I told him, get it for
me. It would make me feel better.

Then I met with them both again yesterday. He
said he got vaxxed a couple of months ago and was
considering getting them all. He's a believer now.

She still isn't vaxxed, even though her husband got
delta. She thinks she's immune because she had
asymptomatic Covid last year.

Well, you never know.

[tavernier]

23. OMG, it's like an Armageddon cocktail!

[ananda]

24. Exactly!

Lol

[Baitball Blogger]

5. By this date, there's enough information for most of us outside of the

child-bearing years to determine if we are healthy enough to cross to other vaccinations, assuming the reports decide there are no other factors to worry about.

[central scrutinizer]

8. Got my Pfizer booster yesterday

Lots of geezers at the site.

[FarPoint]

12. Are you saying....

There were anti-vaccine protesters there?

[central scrutinizer]

15. No, Geezers means old folks, like me

Getting their Pfizer booster shot.

[FarPoint]

18. Hahahahaha

I'm going crazy with all these anti-vaxers's and as an RN having clients and friends dying from covid-19....

I'm on the edge....hahahah

[GPV]

10. I'd like a Moderna follow-up to my J&J if the data is favorable.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

14. I have a friend who got both the Moderna and Pfzier vaccines by mistake

His wife is an ER doc and he got his shot through the hospital/clinic. He was sick for a day after second shot but was back lifting weights the next day. The clinic found the mistake and had him tested for antibodies and he had a very high level of antibodies. His doctor told him that he had the highest level of antibodies that the doctor had seen

[Strelnikov_]

22. Ka-Ching n/t

[marie999]

21. I messaged my VA primary care doctor about the booster and flu shots.

She said I can get my flu shot now but they have to wait on the CDC as far as the Moderna booster.