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Chairman of Romania's National COVID-19 Vaccination Coordination Committee (CNCAV) Valeriu Gheorghita says that a decision will be made next week on the possibility of a heterologous vaccination regimen against COVID-19 that combines two vaccines with different technologies.
At a news conference at the Government House Gheorghita mentioned the possibility of a vaccination scheme in which the first dose would be of the AstraZeneca vaccine and the second of an mRNA vaccine.
"At this moment, we have the answer from the Epidemiology Commission, it is a response that recommends the use of this scheme; we are waiting for an answer from the Health Ministry's Public Health Commission, after which we will reevaluate all scientific data and announce next week a final decision. It is very likely that this heterologous vaccination regimen will be adopted in Romania, taking into account the fact that we have scientific data at this time based on which we can make such a decision. Of course, the decision does not contradict the recommendations of the European Medicines Agency," said Gheorghita, Agerpres informs.
He added that each nation has its own public health vaccination policy, based on scientific data that certify the safety and effectiveness of vaccination regimens.
"Certain categories of people are identified for whom the administration of a dose of vaccine with different technology may be considered, regardless of which of them - either from BioNTech-Pfizer or from Moderna, generally speaking, for example females under 60, especially when they are on oral contraceptives, or people who are in their first year of being diagnosed with cancer, or people who have a history of thromboembolism, people who have a history of thrombocytopaenia, or people who have cirrhosis of the liver with or without thrombocytopaenia. (...) What do studies show? That the first dose of a vaccine, a viral vector vaccine and followed by the administration of an mRNA vaccine at least eight weeks later is associated with a good safety profile and with the best possible immunogenicity data," said Gheorghita.
