For the second time in three months, the Government has increased the intervals between two doses of Serum Institute of India (SII)’s Covishield from six to eight weeks to 12 to 16 weeks.
In March, States and UTs were told to increase the gap from 28 days to six-eight weeks “for better resultsâ€. Now on Thursday, the Union Health Ministry said at a Press conference that it has accepted the recommendation of the expert panel to extend the gap between the first and second dose of the Covishield vaccine to 12-16 weeks. The current gap between two doses of the vaccine is six-eight weeks.
Earlier in the day, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation recommended the same to the Centre. No changes, however, have been made to the interval of Covaxin, Dr VK Paul, Niti Aayog member (Health), said at a routine presser.
“This is beneficial both from the efficacy and the immunogenicity standpoint. This is a very good move because this is based on data that the Government received on the basis of which they made a good scientific decision to increase the gap,†Adar Poonawalla, CEO of SII said.
The extension between the two doses has come as a blessing in disguise to the Centre as well as the Covishield manufacturer, which are in acute pressure to meet the vaccination targets but are not able to do so due to supply shortage. The extended gap will ease the pressure on the SII. In fact, Poonawalla while moving to London had recently alleged that he was facing “pressure†from “some VIP†to meet the targets.
The panel also said pregnant women can choose their vaccine and lactating women will be eligible after delivery. Currently, neither is eligible to get the shots. The panel also stated that those having laboratory test proven SARS-CoV-2 illness should defer Covid-19 vaccination for six months after recovery.
According to the Union Health Ministry’s current protocol, the vaccine is to be taken four to eight weeks after recovery from Covid-19 infection and pregnant and lactating women are not to be administered the shots.
“Based on the available real-life evidence particularly from the UK, the Covid-19 working group agreed for increasing the dosing interval to 12-16 weeks between two doses of Covishield vaccine. No change in interval of Covaxin vaccine doses was recommended,†the Ministry said in a statement.
