International travellers jabbed with mixed Covid vaccines will now be allowed to travel to the United States. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday clarified that they will accept mixed-dose vaccines from International travellers.
“While CDC has not recommended mixing types of vaccine in a primary series, we recognise that this is increasingly common in other countries so should be accepted for the interpretation of vaccine records,” a CDC spokeswoman said.
The CDC earlier said that it would accept any vaccines approved by the US regulator or the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The US will ease Covid-19 travel restrictions for international passengers from November 8.
Additionally, the US also endorsed the booster dose of Johnson & Covid-19 Johnson’s vaccine, admitting that Americans who got the single-dose vaccine are not as protected as those who got other double-dose vaccines.
J&J told US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) that a booster dose provides additional protection as early as two months after the initial vaccine but will work better for those who get it after 6 months. The FDA’s advisory panel voted that booster shot should be taken at least 2 months after the initial vaccination.
Initial results from ongoing research suggest that J&J recipients may have a stronger response if the booster dose is from another brand. The preliminary results from a new study catering to effects of taking competing vaccine brands showed that booster shot from a competing vaccine jacked up virus-fighting antibodies — at least for a few weeks and it was most effective from taking a Pfizer or a Moderna booster shot after a J&J vaccine.