The decision to mix vaccines against COVID-19 will be made exclusively by the doctor who directs the person to vaccination, said Deputy Minister of Health, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Ihor Kuzin.
“The main recommendation was that, in fact, mixing of vaccines is allowed, but subject to the algorithm. Mixing one or another vaccine is not the choice of the patient, it is solely the decision of the doctor who directs for vaccination,” he said in an interview with the Ukrayinska Pravda publication.
According to Kuzin, the doctor can make such a decision only in a few cases: if after the first dose the patient had a severe adverse reaction; due to humanitarian problems. For example, if a person abroad received the first Moderna vaccination and, having returned to Ukraine, does not have the opportunity to be vaccinated with it for the second time.
The deputy minister added that it is possible to combine either mRNA vaccines (Moderna and Pfizer), or the first dose of AstraZeneca, and the second with mRNA vaccines. Mixing of other types of vaccines is not envisaged yet.
In Ukraine, they want to officially allow mixing different types of vaccines, chief sanitary doctor Ihor Kuzin said.
“The National Technical Group of Experts on Immunization, as the main advisory agency of the Health Ministry, recommended to allow the so-called mixing of the vaccine, but under strict observance of certain conditions. We are talking about the possibility of administering a second dose of Comirnaty/Pfizer-BioNTech after the first dose of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine, if it is not possible to complete the vaccination with the same medicine. Also, if a person has a severe allergic reaction to the first dose of the vector vaccine from AstraZeneca, it is allowed to administer a second dose of Comirnaty at the doctor’s discretion,” Kuzin said.
According to him, the relevant decision of the expert group has already been made. Now the issue of issuing the relevant decision and the development of detailed step-by-step instructions are being considered.
