E-Paper
Expert body suggests reducing gap between Covishield doses
The gap between two doses of Covishield could be reduced to 8-16 weeks from 12-16 weeks now if the health ministry accepts the recommendations of its expert panel on immunisation.
The gap between two doses of Covishield could be reduced to 8-16 weeks from 12-16 weeks now if the health ministry accepts the recommendations of its expert panel on immunisation.
The government in May last year had increased the gap of the two doses of the most used Covid-19 vaccine in the country from 6-8 weeks to 12-16 weeks on the recommendations of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), which on Sunday recommended reducing the interval.
“These are just the recommendations at the moment, and have not been yet accepted by the health ministry. The ministry is deliberating over it,” a health ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
The recommendations of the NTAGI also need to be accepted by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 before it is approved by the health ministry.
The Serum Institute of India locally manufactures the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine under the brand name Covishield. It is one of the two Covid-19 vaccines being used in the national Covid-19 immunisation programme in India.
In the early phase of Covid-19 inoculation, the gap was 4-6 weeks, which was later increased to 6-8 weeks, and then to 12-16 weeks. The expert panel has now suggested the gap be revised to 8-16 weeks.
The decisions are based on latest scientific evidence, according to NTAGI members.
“Earlier decisions were also made based on updated data available before the experts, and the changes that have been recommended now are also driven by the fresh data generated globally,” an expert on the panel said on condition of anonymity.
No change has been recommended in the interval of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin that the company has co-developed with the Indian Council of Medical Research. The two doses of Covaxin are administered at an interval of four to six weeks.
The revised interval for Covishield recommended by the NTAGI is based on programmatic data generated globally, according to people familiar with the development.
“According to it, when the second dose of Covishield is given eight weeks onwards, the antibody response generated is almost similar when (it is) administered at an interval of 12 to 16 weeks,” an official told PTI news agency.
When the gap was increased earlier, there were allegations that it was done to tide over a shortage, which the central government denied. The interval was increased for better efficacy, it had then said.
“Please have faith in our scientific processes. NTAGI is a body of individuals of high integrity. And this body does not only look at Covid-19 vaccinations, it also reviews the entire immunisation process in the country. It has been active from much earlier, and functions purely on the basis of scientific evidence before it,” VK Paul, member, health, at the government’s think tank Niti Aayog, had said.
Among the key questions the experts were dealing with in this pandemic was when to give the second vaccine dose, Dr Balram Bhargava, director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research, and secretary at the health research department, had said.
