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Minerva

Vaccination doses. . . and other stories

BMJ 2024; 384 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q397 (Published 22 February 2024) Cite this as: BMJ 2024;384:q397

Different arms for two dose vaccinations

Antibody responses in 900 people who received two dose vaccinations against covid-19 were about 10% greater in those whose second dose had been given in the opposite arm to the first, compared with those who had received both doses in the same arm. The difference was apparent three weeks after the second booster and persisted beyond 13 months. One possible explanation is that by giving a shot in each arm immune responses from different sets of lymph nodes are activated. However, since arm selection wasn’t randomised, unrecognised bias from, for example, vaccine batch effects might have played a part (J Clin Investig doi:10.1172/JCI176411).

Masks for children

Opinion on the benefits …

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