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Gap between Covishield doses increased to 12-16 weeks: What experts say
Experts think the government did the right thing by widening the gap between the two doses of Covishield.
India on Thursday accepted the recommendation of the government's expert panel and increased the gap between two doses of Covishield to 12 to 16 weeks. This was the second time the gap was revised since January when the country rolled out its vaccination drive. Amid attack from the opposition that this is a move to cover up the present vaccine shortage of the country, White House chief medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci told news agency ANI that this is a reasonable thing to do.
"Dramatically ramping up COVID-19 vaccination drive is key to ending the crisis in India and extending the gap between two doses of Covishield is a reasonable approach," White House chief medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci told ANI in an exclusive interview on Thursday.
Watch: 'Extended gap between 2 doses of Covishield reasonable approach': Dr Fauci
"The fact that you delay it that long, it is very unlikely that it would have a negative effect on the efficacy of the vaccine. I would not refer to it as a cover-up when you don't have enough vaccines," Fauci told ANI.
Dr Arvinder Singh Soin, chairman of the Institute of Liver Transplantation and Regenerative medicine, told ANI that the decision to increase the gap is in the right direction as the basic logic is to improve the protection.
However, the decision has courted controversies as Congress leaders accused the Centre of creating confusion. "Govt panel's announcement of 12-16 weeks between Covishield shots follows the UK recommending 8-12 weeks in Dec & @WHO saying 8-12 weeks in Feb. GOI had first decreed 4 weeks, then 6-8 weeks. Could GOI pls explain to the public the science behind their 12-16 weeks recommendation?" Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said.
Niti Aayog (health) member, Dr VK Paul on Thursday explained that the decision is based on real-life evidence, not only studies. Studies revealed that the first dose of Covishield remains effective for almost 90 days and hence many countries, including Spain and Canada, decided to space out the doses.
(With agency inputs)
