People who received the Johnson & Johnson SARS-CoV-2 vaccine may have a stronger immune response when given a booster of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, as compared to another J&J dose, NPR reports.
The National Institutes of Health-funded "mix and match" study, which has been posted to MedRxiv, enrolled 458 individuals who had previously been vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or J&J SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Participants then received a booster dose of one of the three vaccines — not necessarily the same one they previously received. According to the researchers' analysis, all the boosters were immunogenic. They note, though, an mRNA-based booster led to a higher neutralizing response, particularly among individuals who had received an initial J&J vaccine.
The researchers caution, though, that their study was not designed to compare different responses and had a limited follow-up time.
As Business Insider notes, the study results come as a US Food and Drug Administration advisory panel is to meet to discuss boosters of the J&J and Moderna SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.