TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan is about to publish preliminary findings for a number of clinical trials to determine the efficacy of mixing and matching COVID-19 vaccines, with the pairing of AstraZeneca (AZ) and Moderna showing promising results.

The National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) has completed an experiment in which 200 participants received an AZ and a Moderna shot, for 28 days. Antibody tests for those involved indicated greater potency in fighting the virus than that of two AZ doses.

The level of protection was similar to that from the mix of AZ and Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT) vaccines, according to Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳), an infectious disease expert and specialist advisory panel convener at the Central Epidemic Command Center.

Other ongoing trials at the hospital include Moderna-Medigen, Medigen-BNT, and AZ-BNT pairings, reported Liberty Times. Participants for the Moderna-Medigen group will have their blood tested for neutralizing antibody levels on Day 1, 14, and 28, as well as three and six months after their vaccinations, with preliminary results expected by the end of this month.

Meanwhile, the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital is probing the effectiveness of AZ-Moderna and AZ-Medigen inoculations. The Taoyuan General Hospital has also embarked on a trial of 200 people who will get two AZ jabs and one Medigen booster shot.

Though on a small scale, the experiments will help better understand to what extent the combination of different vaccines, including the homegrown brand of Medigen, can generate an immune response against COVD. This will allow for more efficient immunization using available vaccines, Liberty Times quoted NTUH physician Lee Ping-ing (李秉穎) as saying.