Centre may reduce interval between two doses of Covishield vaccine: Sources
The Centre is mulling to reduce the gap between two doses of coronavirus vaccine Covishield, sources on Thursday said.
FollowThe Centre is mulling to reduce the gap between two doses of coronavirus vaccine Covishield, sources on Thursday said.
A Times Now report stated that the reduction in the gap between two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, known as Covishield in India and manufactured in the country by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India, is being considered at the highest level.
Reduction in the gap between two doses of Covishield is being considered and it will be further discussed in NTAGI (National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation in India), government sources were quoted by news agency ANI.
“Dose gap reduction between two doses of Covishield is being considered and it will be further discussed in NTAGI," an official was quoted by CNN-News18.
Reportedly, suggestion to reduce the gap has been given by IAPSM i.e. Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine, an organization working in the health sector.
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Dr NK Arora, chairman of the Covid-19 working group, earlier this month had said that the government may minimise the gap between the two doses of Covishield, but only for people 45 years and older.
India lengthened the interval between the two doses in June and studies claimed that the effectiveness of the first Covishield shot had been overestimated previously. Later this was followed by a reduction in the time gap between the two Covishield doses in various countries. Indian experts have stated that the vaccination situation is fluid and would change as new research emerges, but that public health will always take precedence in any choice made.
However, health experts have argued that when the Centre increased the interval between two doses of Covishield to a maximum of 16 weeks, there was a shortage of vaccines in the country.
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