Striking increase in SARS-CoV-2 antibodies seen with prime dose AstraZeneca vaccine followed by Pfizer-BioNTech
Researchers in Germany have provided evidence that a booster shot of a messenger RNA (mRNA)-based coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine following prime immunization with AstraZeneca’s adenoviral vector-based vaccine is sufficient to achieve high levels of neutralizing antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
The team – from the University Hospital Erlangen, the University Hospital of Cologne, and the Technical University of Munich – says that this heterologous prime-boost regimen using different COVID-19 vaccines may even increase the efficacy of vaccination, while providing an alternative approach to immunization in settings where vaccines are in short supply.