Public Health England has warned against mixing Covid vaccines after the Government described the idea as ‘reasonable’.
Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisations at PHE, has said mixing should only happen on ‘rare occasions’.
It comes after the NHS received Government guidance saying that if a person returns for their second jab to find the same type is not available, it is ‘reasonable’ to offer a dose of another vaccine.
Dr Ramsay told Sky News: ‘We do not recommend mixing the COVID-19 vaccines – if your first dose is the Pfizer vaccine you should not be given the AstraZeneca vaccine for your second dose and vice versa.
‘There may be extremely rare occasions where the same vaccine is not available, or where it is not known what vaccine the patient received.
‘Every effort should be made to give them the same vaccine, but where this is not possible it is better to give a second dose of another vaccine than not at all.’
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