Vulnerable teenagers who were given the AstraZeneca vaccine in past months might get a different second dose, with the health team making the decision on a “personal basis”.
When the health authorities called in those over 16 to sign up for the jab, public health chief Charmaine Gauci announced the under 18s would only be given the vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna.
The announcement sparked concern among parents of vulnerable teens aged between 16 and 18 who had already been vaccinated earlier because of medical conditions. Some had already been administered the AstraZeneca vaccine and are now due their second dose.
As parents took to social media to express their concern, it emerged some were already being informed by medical staff that their children might be given a different second dose.
This, too, came as a surprise since Gauci had repeatedly said Malta would not be mixing vaccines, meaning both first and second doses must be by the same manufacturer.
The health chief had insisted the manufacturers discourage mixing of vaccines and so Malta was following this advice.
The issue of mixing had first been raised after blood clots were listed as a very rare side effect of the AstraZeneca jab, with people wondering whether they could opt for a different second dose instead.
A health ministry spokesperson confirmed the issue with vulnerable teenagers, saying they are being advised “on a personal basis by the infection control medical team”.
No additional information was supplied and it remains unclear which vaccine will now be offered to the vulnerable teenagers as an alternative to the AstraZeneca jab. The spokesperson did not say what prompted the change.
Some parents said they were shocked to learn about this just days before their children were due to get their second dose.
One mother said she only learned her daughter would be getting a different vaccine when she received a call from the health teams about a change in appointment.
“We received a call and were told she would be getting the Pfizer vaccine. Our doctor said this should not be the case,” one parent said, adding they were told more guidance would be given when they turned up for the vaccine.
Another parent, who did not wish to be named, said she was worried the children were being used “as an experiment”.
“So, first they were saying we should not be mixing vaccines and, now, here we are hearing our children will get two different doses. Were they wrong before or are they now simply reacting to a previous error,” she wondered.
What do the experts say?
While there have been countries that opted to give people different doses as part of efforts to get as much of the population inoculated as possible, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) declared in April that it had yet to issue any guidelines on “mixing and matching” of vaccines.
“The EMA has not issued guidelines as such relating to mixing and matching different coronavirus vaccines between the first and second dose. There is a lot of discussion on this,” Peter Arlett, head of the data analytics and methods task force at the European agency, was quoted as saying recently in a press briefing.
“There is theoretical reason to think that mixing vaccines could work and could be a safe and effective approach.
“However, no data has been submitted to the European Medicines Agency and, therefore, we have not made an assessment of these specific vaccines for COVID-19.”