Search icon

Entertainment

14th Apr 2021

The scientist investigating mixing vaccines is called Professor Snape

Claudia McInerney

This discovery will certainly entertain Harry Potter fans

The scientist who is investigating the possibility of using different Covid-19 vaccines for each dose of the vaccination process is called… wait for it… Professor Snape, it has been revealed.

Professor Matthew Snape, a Consultant in Paediatrics and Vaccinology from the Oxford Vaccine Group, is seeking to discover whether different coronavirus vaccines can be used for separate jabs, with the hope of speeding up the entire process, as reported by Indy 100 for the Independent.

People on the internet love Harry Potter, so it’ll come as no surprise that many are amused by the coincidence and seem to be more engaged with the name of the professor than the potential benefits that mixing of the vaccine could have for the UK.

One user, who was clearly startled by the Potter association, replied to Oxford University, asking the institution to clarify the professor’s name, while others merely basked in the joy of this coincidence.

https://twitter.com/Dr_Doomhem/status/1382235732186660864

https://twitter.com/breadandjam/status/1382278066936934401

https://twitter.com/TracyForsythe/status/1382233428138061826

In a statement posted to the Oxford University twitter account, Professor Snape, who is leading the trial, said: “The focus of both this and the original COM-COV study is to explore whether the multiple COVID-19 vaccines that are available can be used more flexibly, with different vaccines being used for the first and second dose.”

Researchers from the ‘COM-COV study’, which started in February, have announced that they are extending their investigation, which initially looked at the mixing of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and the Pfizer vaccine,  to include the Moderna and the Novavax vaccine.

This development will be good news for both the vaccine administrators, and, of course, Harry Potter fans.