National April 20, 2021 KARACHI: At a time when a vast majority of people in Pakistan are desperately trying to get vaccinated at the earliest, some people are looking for the opportunity to get vaccinated with two or more types of vaccines but is it recommended or even safe for them to mix and match the COVID-19 vaccines. “There is no harm in getting vaccinated with more than one vaccine. It is even beneficial for the person who is getting more than one type of vaccines for protection against COVID-19”, was the response of eminent physician and Vice Chancellor, University of Health Sciences (UHS), Lahore Prof Javed Akram when he was questioned by The News about the issue. Prof Akram is the Principal Investigator of phase III clinical trials of two Chinese vaccines including single-dose Convidecia by CanSino Biologics Inc and triple-dose vaccine developed by Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Company Limited. He said although no conclusive evidence of mix and match of different vaccines is available as yet, but there is still no harm in getting jabs of different vaccines. “Whether it is the new mRNA vaccines like Pfizer-BioNtech or Moderna or the conventional Chinese, Russian or British vaccines, there is no harm if a person gets inoculated by more than one vaccine. it is in fact beneficial,” he declared. The UHS Lahore Vice Chancellor, who is also the President of Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine (PSIM), said that several countries including United States, United Kingdom and China were conducting human trials by applying more than one vaccine to assess if they generate a better immune response as compared to a single vaccine. To a query, Prof Javed Akram said in Pakistan scenario, if one gets inoculated by the two-dose Chinese Sinopharm, he or she 'can also' go for the Russian Sputnik V vaccine which is privately available.