Is extra vaccine ok?

[AustinRacing]

Any advice from learned colleagues appreciated. Have two AZ jabs. Due for Pfizer booster end of March. Friend has spare Moderna that she paid for a while back and is now available. She doesn’t want it. Should I take it tomorrow and the Pfizer end of March?

[Paulaew]

The current medical consensus seems to be that a third vaccine dose is indicated 3 months after the second dose of AstraZeneca, especially if you are in a high risk group (over 60, or have one or more comorbidities). The jury is still out on the need for a fourth dose, though some countries have offered it to medical workers and other high risk individuals.

 

I don't think anyone really knows how many doses is enough or too many. This is uncharted territory.

 

Paul Laew

[Denim]

3 minutes ago, Paulaew said:

I don't think anyone really knows how many doses is enough or too many. This is uncharted territory.

 

 

But there is a bloke out there who has done pioneering research on this :

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/covid-vaccine-man-in-india-claims-to-have-had-11-doses-bqgqds8z0

 

An 84-year-old retired post office worker in India claims he has taken a coronavirus vaccine at least 11 times and “felt better” for it each time.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Anyone who's had two AZ doses as their original shots -- which includes myself --  definitely should consider a Moderna or Pfizer booster 3 months after their second AZ dose.  Because, AZ in particular shows a pattern of waning effectiveness against preventing infection after several months.

 

Both the Pfizer and Moderna shots are good for booster purposes on top of two AZ doses. But, the Moderna booster has been shown in the tracking studies done in the UK to have slightly better performance than the Pfizer shot as boosters.  All things being equal, I'd pick the Moderna booster if I had the choice.

 

 

[Paulaew]

15 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Both the Pfizer and Moderna shots are good for booster purposes on top of two AZ doses. But, the Moderna booster has been shown in the tracking studies done in the UK to have slightly better performance than the Pfizer shot as boosters.  All things being equal, I'd pick the Moderna booster if I had the choice.

I had the Moderna booster after 2 shots of AZ. The effectiveness of the Moderna booster does vary according to the size of the dose. The recommended Moderna booster is a half dose (50 micrograms), but at least some of the private hospitals in Thailand (Sukhumvit and BNH) are giving 100 mcg shots as boosters. According to Moderna, the 50 mcg dose increases antibodies by 37-fold, while the 100 mcg dose provides an 83-fold increase.

 

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/20/health/moderna-covid-booster-omicron.html

 

Paul Laew

[phetphet]

You could of course take the Moderna and forego the Pfizer for now. Maybe try and get that one in another three to six months as a further booster.

[richard_smith237]

I’ve had 4 doses.....  more to do with certification and re-entry into Thailand reasons than anything else...

 

1) AZ - Early June (Thailand) 

2) Pfizer - Early July (Overseas)

3) Pfizer - Early Aug (Overseas)

4) Moderna - Late Dec (Thailand) 

 

I needed full certification for work (i.e. took the 2 Pfizer overseas as at the time the Thai AZ was not recognised)

I also needed full certificate to return to Thailand and Sandbox.

 

I also took the Moderna Booster in Dec (4.5 months after the previous Pfizer) - this as precaution as I have to travel overseas and believe the Moderna booster will increase my chances of not contracting Covid-19 in the first place ( I don’t want to test PCR positive preventing me from travelling overseas ). 

 

 

From the research I carried out and having completed the above vaccine program there is no impact whatsoever from taking a booster a month or two after the main Vax... It could be a wasted dose, but there are no negative effects (from my experience and existing knowledge).

 

Also, lets not forget - we used to get multiple vaccines in a day...  MRA, Polio, Tetanus, Typhoid etc... 

I remember having 4 individual injections and a polio vaccine before coming to Thailand a couple of decades ago. 

I recently had a number of booster on the some day (at Mahidol) including Yellow fever.

 

 

IMO - there is all a little too much hysteria surrounding vaccines - its something we been doing for generations !!!

 

 

 

[Polar Bear]

A friend in the USA just had 2 doses of Pfizer after previously having had 2 doses of Sputnik 9 months ago. The US doctor was happy to give her the first Pfizer but very reluctant to do the second because he said having 2 Pfizer after having had two doses of a viral vector vaccine increases the chances of heart problems. They did it in the end because Sputnik isn't recognised there, and she was required to be vaccinated. She didn't have any problems.

[Sheryl]

For sure you should get either Pfizer or Moderna as a booster now assuming it is at least 3 months since your last AZ.

 

Thailand does not currently have a protocol for a 2nd booster (4th injection) for those whose initial series was AZ + AZ

 (I am right now in waiting area of Med Park  hospital for my own booster and just asked them).this may however change. Some countries already recommend a 2nd booster 3 or more months after the first booster.

 

Your ability to get one may depend on whether Thai guidelines have changed by then --- or if the Moderna was purchased privately from a private hospital, on how strictly "by the book" they are.

[AustinRacing]

It was purchased privately a year or so ago. Thinking they’d never arrive she went ahead with the government vaccine. Maybe I can take her Moderna now and postpone the Pfizer. 

[seajae]

I had the 2 pfizer vaccines last year after paying for moderna and yesterday I got one of my moderna vaciines as they were finally released here, my wife had 2 chinese vaccines through her work then had a moderna in Bangkok  just before christmas as a booster and will use my second moderna shot as another booster as the chinese ones are not really great and the fact that one of her workers had covid after the 2 chinese shots

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, AustinRacing said:

It was purchased privately a year or so ago. Thinking they’d never arrive she went ahead with the government vaccine. Maybe I can take her Moderna now and postpone the Pfizer. 

If the Pfizer opportunity is from govt I'd get that now as there is better chance of being able to get the Moderna from a private hospital as a second booster than there is of getting a second booster from govt anytime soon.

 

Also it is thought that Pfizer is somewhat more effective than (current) Moderna against Omicron. (Moderna is working on a "tweaked" version to overcome this in future).

[Lorry]

4 hours ago, Sheryl said:

If the Pfizer opportunity is from govt I'd get that now 

"NOW"

He said he can get Pfizer end of March. By that time,  the tsunami of omicron will have swept over Thailand,  and maybe it will be subsiding already.

He should get Pfizer or Moderna, whatever he can get NOW.

[TorquayFan]

As a booster, just half the Moderna dose should increase your antibody count by x 37 if I remember. The full dose increases it by  x 84. As you had AZ x 2 - as soon as you like - half a dose is OK.

 

As I read, there's no point in vaxing like crazy - the next one only makes a difference if the last one has had time to wane.

 

I think Moderna is reported as a better booster than Pfizer. Dose 3 will sort you for now - appraise more later.

[MrJ2U]

I just took my Moderna booster 3 months and a week after my second Pfeizer shot.

 

The nurse gave me a second look but said ok.

 

I wanted to get it done as hordes of people are trying to get the booster.

 

Hospital beds are filling up so I wanted to get it done because Omicron is damned contagious.

 

Although many have mild symptoms, many also get sick enough to need acute care

  Go for it, especially Moderna.