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A highly anticipated study of “mixing and matching” Covid-19 vaccines found the approach to be safe and effective, although the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines were found to spark stronger immune system responses than Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. “Mixing and matching” refers to giving a booster dose of a vaccine different from the vaccine type that was used for the initial vaccination series. (Chow and Syal, 10/13)

Mixing Covid vaccines produces as much or more antibodies as using the same shot as a booster, according to preliminary results of a widely awaited U.S. government-sponsored trial. The trial is the first major U.S. study to compare the effects of using different vaccines as boosters from the initial shot or shots. The complicated, 9-arm trial involved over 450 people and measured the effects from giving a booster shot of the Moderna Inc., Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE or Johnson & Johnson vaccines to those who had originally gotten a different vaccine. Overall, the results found that mixing-and-matching resulted in comparable or higher levels of neutralizing antibodies compared to same-vaccine boosting, the researchers said in the preprint posted on medRxiv.org. Rates of adverse events were similar across all the different booster groups, the study found. (Langreth and Rutherford, 10/13)

People who received a Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine may be better off with a booster shot from Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech, according to preliminary data from a federal clinical trial published on Wednesday. That finding, along with a mixed review by the Food and Drug Administration of the case made by Johnson & Johnson for an authorization of its booster, could lead to a heated debate about how and when to offer additional shots to the 15 million Americans who have received the single-dose vaccine. (Zimmer, Weiland and LaFraniere, 10/14)

If you got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as your first COVID-19 shot, a booster dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine apparently could produce a stronger immune response than a second dose of J&J's vaccine. That's the finding of a highly anticipated study released Wednesday. And if you started out with either Pfizer or Moderna, it probably doesn't matter that much, the research suggests, as long as you get one of the two mRNA vaccines as a booster. The study, which was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, involved 458 volunteers. They were divided into nine groups with roughly 50 volunteers in each group. Those who initially got the two-dose Moderna vaccine got either another Moderna shot, a Pfizer shot or a Johnson & Johnson shot as a booster four to six months after their primary immunization. (Stein, 10/13)

A booster of Johnson & Johnson’s JNJ 0.96% Covid-19 vaccine showed signs of significantly bolstering the immune defenses of study subjects, federal health regulators said Wednesday. The regulators cautioned, however, that data was limited and that they had to rely on J&J’s own analysis for some of the study findings, rather than conducting their own. (Loftus and Schwartz, 10/13)

The staff of the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday struck a more favorable tone on Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 booster shots, saying there may be a benefit to administering a second dose two months after the initial shot. The staff acknowledged, however, the data to support boosters was limited and the agency hasn’t verified all the information yet. (Lovelace Jr., 10/13)

More than one-third of seniors who are eligible to get a third Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 shot have received a booster dose, the White House said on Wednesday. About three weeks after a third dose was authorized for certain Pfizer recipients, including those aged 65 and older, White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said 7 million people by the end of Wednesday will have gotten their booster shot. (Coleman, 10/13)

With just days to go before a high-stakes debate to determine which Moderna and Johnson & Johnson recipients receive COVID-19 booster shots, some experts remain confused about President Joe Biden's goals for the booster rollout. The White House was expected to meet privately with independent experts to outline and discuss Biden’s endgame for the booster campaign recently. But scientists and other experts said a proposed Zoom meeting had not been scheduled after the details of an earlier call, in which many argued that boosters are premature, were leaked to the press last week, according to two of the experts. (Kopp, 10/13)