Australian research reveals getting a booster vaccine in the same arm as the first dose is more effective
The study, led by the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and the Kirby Institute at UNSW Sydney, offers new insight that could help improve future vaccinations.
The researchers found when a booster vaccine like the Pfizer COVID vaccine was given in the same arm the body produced antibodies against the illness significantly faster than those who had the second shot in the opposite arm.
The participants who had the booster vaccine in the same arm as their first dose developed antibodies — proteins that protect you from bacteria and viruses — within a week.
'By four weeks, both groups had similar antibody levels, but that early protection could be crucial during an outbreak,' Kirby Institute vaccine immunogenomics leader Mee Ling Munier said.
'If you've had your COVID jabs in different arms, don't worry our research shows that over time the difference in protection diminishes but during a pandemic, those first weeks of protection could make an enormous difference at a population level.
'The same-arm strategy could help achieve herd immunity faster — particularly important for rapidly mutating viruses where speed of response matters.'
Garvan precision immunology program director Tri Phan said the findings offer a promising new approach for enhancing vaccine effectiveness.
'This is a fundamental discovery in how the immune system organises itself to respond better to external threats — nature has come up with this brilliant system and we're just now beginning to understand it,' he said.
'If we can understand how to replicate or enhance the interactions ... we may be able to design next-generation vaccines that require fewer boosters.'
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