A new study from Umeå University shows that a first dose of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and a second dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine gives a good immune response against COVID-19.

A combination of different types of vaccines also leads to a significantly higher level of antibodies compared to having two doses of the same vaccine, and the combination also protects against the South African virus variant, the new research shows. The results, published in New England Journal of Medicine, might be important when it comes to so called heterologous prime booster strategies.

Moderna’s mRNA vaccine

The scientists investigated and compared immune defenses and side effects in people that had received either two doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine or one dose of AstraZeneca’s vaccine and then a second dose of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine.

“It is a limited study that included 88 people but we clearly see that Moderna’s mRNA vaccine is working excellent to reinforce the antibody defense that the first dose of AstraZeneca’s vaccine generated,” says Mattias Forsell, Docent in Immunology at Umeå University.

The results have been verified by independent laboratories through a collaboration with scientists at Karolinsk Institutet and Region Värmland.