European drug regulator backs mixing COVID-19 vaccines

By: The Associated Press Posted: Last Modified:

Advertisement

Advertise with us

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The European Union drug regulator gave its backing Tuesday to mixing different types of vaccines in initial vaccination and booster campaigns to battle the coronavirus.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/12/2021 (1762 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The European Union drug regulator gave its backing Tuesday to mixing different types of vaccines in initial vaccination and booster campaigns to battle the coronavirus.

The European Medicines Agency said in a statement that using different types of vaccines together, known as heterologous vaccination, can provide protection against COVID-19.

The announcement comes as much of Europe is facing rising infection and hospital rates and concerns about the new omicron variant.

Pedestrians wear masks to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 as they walk past a store decorated as part of Christmas lightings, in Paris, Monday, Dec. 6, 2021. The new potentially more contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus popped up in more European countries just days after being identified in South Africa, leaving governments around the world scrambling to stop the spread. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Pedestrians wear masks to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 as they walk past a store decorated as part of Christmas lightings, in Paris, Monday, Dec. 6, 2021. The new potentially more contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus popped up in more European countries just days after being identified in South Africa, leaving governments around the world scrambling to stop the spread. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

The EMA, together with the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said that a mix-and-match strategy could give nations more options in vaccination campaigns as much of the continent seeks to contain the latest surge in the pandemic.

“The evidence available so far with different types of authorized vaccines indicates that a heterologous booster appears as good as or better in terms of immune responses than a homologous booster,” the agencies said in a statement.

“While research is ongoing to provide more evidence on long-term safety, duration of immunity and effectiveness, the use of heterologous schedules may offer flexibility in terms of vaccination options, particularly to reduce the impact on the vaccine rollout should a vaccine not be available for any reason,” they added.

The agencies looked at data for mRNA vaccines like the Pfizer shot and so-called viral vector vaccines such as the one made by Johnson & Johnson. The two types of vaccines use different technologies to spur the body to fight the coronavirus.

U.S. and U.K. authorities have already given the green light to mixing and matching vaccines in booster campaigns.

___

Follow all AP stories on the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.

Related Articles

UK's Johnson apologizes, orders probe of staff lockdown fest
FILE - Britain's COP26 spokesperson Allegra Stratton attends the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. A leaked video that shows staff members in British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office joking about holding a lockdown-breaching Christmas party last year is adding fuel to allegations that government officials flouted coronavirus rules they imposed on everyone else. A video aired late Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021 by broadcaster ITV showed then-press secretary Allegra Stratton appearing to joke about an illicit party at the prime minister's Downing Street office. (Adrian Dennis/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Report Error Submit a Tip

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

Puzzles Palace

1 minute read Monday, Jul. 27, 2026

To solve our puzzles, please subscribe with this special offer: |

Supplied Canada Packers cutline please

Brandonmeat packer thriving on its own

Abiola Odutola 3 minute read Preview

Brandonmeat packer thriving on its own

Abiola Odutola 3 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

BRANDON — Canada Packers has strengthened its business and laid the foundation for future growth during its first year as an independent company, its president says.

The Brandon-based pork producer, separated from Maple Leaf Foods in October 2025, established its own leadership, strategy, systems, culture and identity while continuing operations across its hog production farms and regional hog barns in southern and eastern Manitoba.

The company’s first year was focused on building a successful standalone business while continuing to serve customers, communities and shareholders, president Dennis Organ said.

“Market conditions over the past year have been more challenging than we anticipated when we became a separate entity,” he said in an email. “Despite that, we continued to execute against our priorities, including increasing processing volumes, maintaining disciplined operations and strengthening the business.”

Read
Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT
Pedestrians wear masks to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 as they walk past a store decorated as part of Christmas lightings, in Paris, Monday, Dec. 6, 2021. The new potentially more contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus popped up in more European countries just days after being identified in South Africa, leaving governments around the world scrambling to stop the spread. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

European drug regulator backs mixing COVID-19 vaccines

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

European drug regulator backs mixing COVID-19 vaccines

The Associated Press 2 minute read Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021

The Quebec-based company expects its final application will be handed to Health Canada within days.

Read
Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021

May be whiff of truth to ex’s odour ardour

Maureen Scurfield 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I ran into an old boyfriend I used to curl on a team with, and we went for drinks. We’ve been almost eight years apart, and I couldn’t remember why we broke up, as we always had such a great time together.

It wasn’t until the second date — this time on a weekend — that it came back to me, with a jolt. Pee-yew! I remembered he doesn’t use deodorant on weekends. Why? He enjoys his own body odour. I recalled that a bit too late, and it was just as awful as ever! I went home early.

Tonight, he called and I refused him another date. I said, “Think back. You remember why we broke up?” Then he said, “Oh yeah, you hated my no-deodorant weekend policy. Well, guess what? Some women don’t mind!” I said I really doubted that, and that ended the conversation. Miss L., wouldn’t any women find stinky underarms offensive?

— Sensitive Nose, Fort Richmond

Letters, Oct. 3

7 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

A morning in the life …

My very first lesson does not start when I walk into that lecture hall, oh no — it starts long before. It begins when I walk to my car, check the estimated arrival time to the University of Manitoba and hope that Winnipeg traffic agrees with it.

A drive that appears completely manageable changes almost immediately when I’m greeted by a tsunami of orange pylons and a line of cars that appears to go on forever. Traffic moves by the inch, lanes magically disappear and the detour I took yesterday now has a detour of its own. These factors make me do a calculation that I have become all too familiar with. How late can I arrive and still find parking, run to my class across campus and get to class with enough time left to make it worth it?

I have grown used to people saying, “Why not just leave earlier?” I do. But when I’m already leaving for my 8:30 a.m. class at 7 a.m., there’s only so much I can do. This drive that some would think is relaxing is one that feels like an assignment that I didn’t know I had to complete and is due at 8:30 a.m.

Prime Video / Amazon Content Services Summer H. Howell says she feels she’s been working towards playing the role of Carrie her entire life.

Manitoba’s own Summer Howell takes on biggest role yet as Stephen King’s telekinetic teen Carrie

Randall King 7 minute read Preview

Manitoba’s own Summer Howell takes on biggest role yet as Stephen King’s telekinetic teen Carrie

Randall King 7 minute read Friday, Oct. 2, 2026

From the tender age of eight, actress Summer Howell has made her presence known in a series of horror films shot in her home province of Manitoba.

Her first film was Curse of Chucky (2013), director Don Mancini’s continuation of the venerable killer doll series he started (as a screenwriter) in 1988 with Child’s Play.

“Even then, it was obvious she was very talented, intelligent and delightful,” Mancini said of Howell.

Though she has worked in other genres, Howell gravitated to horror repeatedly, with credits in Shawn Linden’s harrowing Hunter Hunter (2020) and the 2023 possession thriller All Fun and Games. Earlier this year, she shot the horror film Sundown in Winnipeg with director Rebekah McKendry, which premièred last week at Beyond Fest in Los Angeles and is headed for a streaming berth on Shudder.

Read
Friday, Oct. 2, 2026