The Health Ministry has allowed the mixing and matching of COVID-19 vaccines for the second shot. (Illustrative image)   

NDO – The advisory council on the use of vaccines under the Health Ministry has allowed the mixing and matching of COVID-19 vaccines for the second shot amid the shortage of vaccines.

Accordingly, a first shot of Pfizer vaccine can be followed by Moderna vaccine and vice versa while a first shot of AstraZeneca can be followed by Pfizer or Moderna.

To implement the COVID-19 vaccine strategy, Vietnam has so far received a range of vaccines manufactured with different technologies, such as vector technology (Astra Zeneca, Sputnik V), mRNA technology (Pfizer, Moderna), and inactivated technology (Sinopharm).

At the same time, medical manufacturers are currently researching and developing a number of vaccines using various technologies.

Due to the scarcity of vaccines, many countries have researched and used a combination of two vaccines developed with the same or different technology, based on the available vaccines, such as mixing and matching vector vaccines and mRNA vaccines, or combining mRNA vaccines of different manufacturers.

To increase the vaccination coverage, the advisory council on the use of vaccines on September 8 advised the mixing and matching of vaccines in the case that the supply of vaccine used in the first dose is not enough for the second shot.