corporate-wage-slave

From an immunology point of view, getting a second dose early is illogical, it's not how it works. If this is Pfizer then if you get a second dose before 21 days (or to be more precise, 19 elapsed days between jabs) then it is regarded as discounted, and you would have to have a third dose after 21 days. From an immunology point of view it would be better to wait longer than go shorter. Here in the UK our guidance hasn't been updated for Moderna yet, but I bet it will be the same as Pfizer.

GUWonder

They did you a favor.

From a travel perspective, you may want to see if Iceland would deny you entry as a vaccinated US visitor to Iceland if your CDC card(s) showed that the Pfizer-B vaccinations were less than 21 days apart. If you showed up with the vaccinations as less than 19 days apart, it seems like they would deny you entry on that vaccination basis.

under2100

What do you think about getting a 2nd dose of a different vaccine in a different country? I'm in a different country to my first dose vaccine (UK, AZ) and I can get a 2nd dose of something else (US, not-AZ). From a health perspective, is it better to treat it as a first dose and get a full course of non-AZ, or treat it as a 2nd dose? What about from the perspective of obtaining "documentation of being vacc'd"? Not sure whether I will get back at 12 weeks to UK for dose2 AZ. If I do, should I complete the AZ course anyway even if I got a Pf/Mod in the US? Or if it's well after 12 weeks from dose1, is it better to just wait for a booster in the fall?
I understand no one on the board (or anywhere in the universe) really knows definite answers, but wondered if there were others in the same boat who'd considered various aspects of the question

ryman554

One could reasonably argue that one dose is all you need from *any* of the sources so far -- after two weeks you've got 80-90% of the total effect.

Follow the protocols, don't mix and match for now. Would it matter? Probably not. Would it be *better*? My gut tells me it would just from a "lets test the immune system slightly differently" perspective. But we don't have the data, so let's not do our own individual clinical trials.

Whatever you do, don't rush the process. It won't do you any good. Delaying the second dose is likely much, much more beneficial than accelerating it, if given a choice. If you moved on and you *can't* get the second dose from the same manufacturer more than 3-4 weeks after dose #1, then by all means, get the second dose of something else. That's the recommendation.

lhioseddy

Also curious about this. Haven't really read any first hand info on it.

corporate-wage-slave

Under UK protocols, perhaps if this was the other way around (e.g. an American arriving in the UK with Moderna, which isn't yet here) then after 12 weeks we would offer to vaccinate you with another vaccine. You'd have to discuss this with a doctor as to whether to stick to the mRNA technology, i.e. Pfizer, or whether to go for something fully different, ie AZ. But we would want you to have a second dose at that point. In your shoes, given you are on AZ, if you get much beyond 16 weeks I'd accept whatever second dose you can get, given an AZ start point; had you accepted Pfizer for dose 1 then you better do something around week 12. There is nothing holy about 12 / 16 weeks, these are booster shots, and there may be an Autumn 2021 booster shot for everyone anyway, with a reconfiguration of your first pair of vaccines or something deliberately different. I know of people who had AZ and then Pfizer, they are all doing fine, and I doubt Moderna is any better or worse in this context. In the UK mixing vaccines is permitted, but not considered best practice.

The different vaccines have been discussed in terms of their technology and slightly different launch processes immediately after vaccination. However the underlying immunology processes are very similar for all the vaccines, and over the longer term I suspect the general impact of the vaccines to be fairly similar. The differences in percentages seen in media reports can be explained by different testing approaches and methodologies. The vaccines' development is all very new and exciting, in terms of future potential, but the underlying immunisation process with these vaccines is essentially the same as when they were first used against smallpox in 1796, it's very old technology. So in short, it shouldn't matter much.

under2100

Thanks for the thoughtful and detailed response. I've still got time before the 12 week mark, so maybe I'll sit tight for now and see if my options become clearer closer to that time.

Bob Saccamano

Thanks for the link. Only Rite Aids have appointments close to where I can be. When your wife went to Rite Aid did they have a choice of jabs or just the J&J.

Bob

HeartFist

TX has no residency requirement either: https://www.dshs.texas.gov/covidvaccine/

MSPeconomist

My instinct would be to think about your goals. Do you want reasonably good protection ASAP, proven (documented by empirical studies) maximum protection, convenience, or documentation for travel, etc.? For documentation, mix and match (or anything that hasn't been generally accepted by various government agencies) might not work for vaccine passports or their euivalnets.

bluemoon68

We've had similar questions asked at the vaccine clinic. Advice is to get a second dose at the time interval recommended from your first dose, ideally of the same vaccine, but if not it is better to get a different vaccine than nothing. We've had elderly patients who received Pfizer first and are now living in care homes so receiving AZ as their second shot. We've also had people with AZ booked appointments saying they were intending emigrating before the second dose, so should they hold off. The advice has always been to take your first vaccine as soon as offered and match your second if you can, but if not take something else rather than nothing. (England/ UK advice)

under2100

Thanks for that, that's very useful to know. I hadn't thought to ask when I got my shot. It makes sense the way you explain it. I can call my GP closer to the time as well, but I imagine they'll say different 2nd is better than no 2nd as well. Maybe by then, the study on mixed vaccines will have released its results.

under2100

Good point. Well I guess the most important is always health. But I think it's not so much the mix and match but the fact that it's from two different countries that might be thorny.

Yreal

This is the supposed signup link

https://imunizacija.euprava.gov.rs/

Global Adventurer

These two guys decided to get a vaccinated before their selected age group, so they just dressed up like seniors, and dyed their hair but they got caught anyway. LOL The vaccination center they went to was in my delegation

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/cor...904f-350104330