Switching of COVID-19 vaccines: A solution for the problems? A multicentre, randomised, single blind, controlled trial among HealthCare Workers (HCW) vaccinated with Janssen: the SWITCH trial.

Key facts

Disease
COVID-19
Start & end year
2021
2025
Funder
Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMW)
Principal Investigator
dr C. Geurts van Kessel
Research Location
Netherlands
Lead Research Institution
Erasmus Medisch Centrum
Research Priority Alignment
N/A

Research Category
Vaccines research, development and implementation
Research Subcategory
Clinical trial (unspecified trial phase)
Special Interest Tags
N/A
Study Type
Clinical
Clinical Trial Details
Randomized Controlled Trial
Broad Policy Alignment
Pending
Age Group
Adults (18 and older)
Vulnerable Population
Unspecified
Occupations of Interest
Health Personnel

Abstract

Combining COVID-19 vaccinations could accelerate vaccination campaigns in the future and reduce the impact of supply problems. It could also theoretically elicit a higher (more antibodies) and a broader (against more variants) immune response. Several studies have already been started in Europe to investigate the safety and immune response in combination with AstraZeneca. In consultation with these international studies, the SWITCH study was set up in the Netherlands. This study focuses on administering a second corona vaccination to hospital employees who have previously been vaccinated with Janssen. Objective This study investigates the effect of a second homologous or heterologous corona vaccination after a first Janssen vaccination. In addition, the occurrence of side effects with homologous and heterologous booster vaccination is examined. Study design In this study, employees who have been vaccinated with Janssen will be vaccinated a second time with the Janssen, Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the following groups: 1. No additional vaccination; 2. A second dose with Janssen; 3. A second dose with Pfizer; 4. A second dose with Moderna. Blood is taken at 4 different times: day 0 (before 2nd vaccination), day 28 (primary endpoint), after 6 and 12 months. First results The first results of the SWITCH study have been made public. This publication is a pre-print where peer review is still taking place. The results show that different combinations of booster vaccinations are well tolerated in healthy people and show a clear response. Administering a booster vaccination with an mRNA vaccine (Moderna or Pfizer) after a Janssen vaccination shows a higher response compared to administering 1 or 2 Janssen vaccinations. On January 19, 2022, new results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine .

15 Publications linked via Europe PMC

Last Updated:2 days ago

View all publications at Europe PMC

Preferential boosting of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron lineage-specific immune responses by monovalent XBB.1.5 vaccination.

Authors
Geers D, Aguilar-Bretones M, Zaeck LM, Gill PA, Gonzalez-Lopez C, Handrejk K, Tan NH, den Hartog Y, Gommers L, Bogers S, Mykytyn AZ, Sablerolles RSG, Goorhuis A, Postma DF, Visser LG, Dalm VASH, Lafeber M, Kootstra NA, van Baarle D, Haagmans BL, Koopmans MPG, GeurtsvanKessel CH, van der Kuy PHM, van Nierop GP, van Zelm MC, de Vries RD.
Publish Year
2026
Journal
The Journal of infection
DOI
10.1016/j.jinf.2026.106681

View at Europe PMC

Preferential boosting of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron lineage-specific immune responses by monovalent XBB.1.5 vaccination

Authors
Geers D, Aguilar-Bretones M, Zaeck LM, Gill PA, Gonzalez-Lopez C, Handrejk K, Tan NH, den Hartog Y, Gommers L, Bogers S, Mykytyn AZ, Sablerolles RS, Goorhuis A, Postma DF, Visser LG, Dalm VA, Lafeber M, Kootstra NA, van Baarle D, Haagmans BL, Koopmans MP, GeurtsvanKessel CH, van der Kuy PHM, van Nierop GP, van Zelm MC, de Vries RD.
Publish Year
2025
DOI
10.1101/2025.10.30.25339006

View at Europe PMC

Original COVID-19 priming regimen impacts the immunogenicity of bivalent BA.1 and BA.5 boosters.

Authors
Zaeck LM, Tan NH, Rietdijk WJR, Geers D, Sablerolles RSG, Bogers S, van Dijk LLA, Gommers L, van Leeuwen LPM, Rugebregt S, Goorhuis A, Postma DF, Visser LG, Dalm VASH, Lafeber M, Kootstra NA, Huckriede ALW, Haagmans BL, van Baarle D, Koopmans MPG, SWITCH-ON Research Group, van der Kuy PHM, GeurtsvanKessel CH, de Vries RD.
Publish Year
2024
Journal
Nature communications
DOI
10.1038/s41467-024-48414-x

View at Europe PMC

Evaluation of a group-based online informed consent conversation (eConsent) in participants from a low-risk vaccination clinical trial.

Bivalent COVID-19 vaccines boost the capacity of pre-existing SARS-CoV-2-specific memory B cells to cross-recognize Omicron subvariants

Revealing the significance of IL-2 and IL-5 in SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses in kidney transplant recipients.

Distinct COVID-19 vaccine combinations result in divergent immune responses

Immunogenicity of bivalent omicron (BA.1) booster vaccination after different priming regimens in health-care workers in the Netherlands (SWITCH ON): results from the direct boost group of an open-label, multicentre, randomised controlled trial.

Authors
Tan NH, Geers D, Sablerolles RSG, Rietdijk WJR, Goorhuis A, Postma DF, Visser LG, Bogers S, van Dijk LLA, Gommers L, van Leeuwen LPM, Boerma A, Nijhof SH, van Dort KA, Koopmans MPG, Dalm VASH, Lafeber M, Kootstra NA, Huckriede ALW, van Baarle D, Zaeck LM, GeurtsvanKessel CH, de Vries RD, van der Kuy PHM, SWITCH ON Research Group.
Publish Year
2023
Journal
The Lancet. Infectious diseases
DOI
10.1016/s1473-3099(23)00140-8

View at Europe PMC

Ad26.COV2.S priming provided a solid immunological base for mRNA-based COVID-19 booster vaccination.

Authors
Geers D, Sablerolles RSG, van Baarle D, Kootstra NA, Rietdijk WJR, Schmitz KS, Gommers L, Bogers S, Nieuwkoop NJ, van Dijk LLA, van Haren E, Lafeber M, Dalm VASH, Goorhuis A, Postma DF, Visser LG, Huckriede ALW, Sette A, Grifoni A, de Swart RL, Koopmans MPG, van der Kuy PHM, GeurtsvanKessel CH, de Vries RD, SWITCH research group.
Publish Year
2023
Journal
iScience
DOI
10.1016/j.isci.2022.105753

View at Europe PMC