Participants needed for study on mixing and matching COVID-19 vaccines

INTERVIEW: Doctor studying mixed vaccine doses CTV’s Renee Rodgers talks to Dr. Joanne Langley, who is leading a study on mixing and matching COVID-19 doses.

WINNIPEG — A Canadian study is looking into the effects of mixing and matching COVID-19 vaccines, and researchers are looking for some help.

The goal of the research is to learn more about interchangeability, the immune response that comes with two different doses, and how long the immunity lasts.

“The trial was designed to study over the next year after you get the vaccine, how safe the vaccine is and how well you’re protected for that whole 12 months,” said. Dr. Joanne Langley, one of the primary investigators of the study.

The study will use vaccines authorized for Canadian public health programs, and is currently using Pfizer and Moderna.

Participants of the study will go through an informed consent process and then either get the same dose as they got for the first vaccine or a different one.

“Then we’ll ask you to fill out a diary card to keep track of how you feel and we’ll have some blood collections over time to look at your immune response,” Langley said.

The Clinical Trials Network of the Canadian Immunization Network is leading the study, and the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba is one of the groups taking part. Researchers are looking for participants 18 and older who only have one dose of the vaccine or who haven’t been immunized at all.

According to Langley, there is no need for anyone who hears about this study and has already had two different doses of the vaccine to be nervous.

“The record so far shows that it is safe and effective, but there are details about the immune response, the duration of the immune response over time, little itty-bitty things that researchers need to know to be able to give the best recommendations,” she said.

“Those are the kinds of things we’ll be studying over the next year.”

Anyone interested in participating in this research can find out more information online or by calling 204-789-3206.

Researchers are hoping to enroll 1,200 people across Canada to participate in the study.

- With files from CTV’s Renee Rodgers.