E-Paper
Widen gap in Covishield jabs to 6-8 weeks: Centre
The decision is likely to also help cover more people during the current vaccination campaign as it will allow hospitals and clinics to give out more first doses to people instead of worrying about stocking adequate supplies for second doses for the time being.
The second dose of Covishield can be given up to eight weeks after the first, the Union health ministry said in a statement on Monday, expanding the maximum interval between the two shots from six weeks after the practice appeared to yield a higher efficacy in preventing Covid-19.
The decision is likely to also help cover more people during the current vaccination campaign as it will allow hospitals and clinics to give out more first doses to people instead of worrying about stocking adequate supplies for second doses for the time being.
“In view of the emerging scientific evidence, the interval between two doses of a specific Covid-19 vaccine i.e. Covishield, has been revisited by National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) and subsequently by National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) in its 20th meeting. During this meeting the recommendation has been revised to provide 2nd dose of Covishield at 4-8 weeks’ interval after the 1st dose, instead of earlier practiced interval of 4-6 weeks,” said the health ministry statement.
The increased interval does not apply to Covaxin, the other coronavirus vaccine India uses.
Covishield is the made-in-India version of the Oxford-AstraZeneca AZD1222 vaccine. The Co-WIN platform dashboard showed on Monday evening that it accounted for 92% of the 46 million doses given till 6.30pm across the country.
India opened up its vaccination drive for the priority groups among the general public on March 1. As per the schedule decided at first, those who got Covishield would need to get their second doses by mid-April. Now, they can wait until the end of April to do so.
Experts in the field said the move to increase the interval will benefit the programme in the long run. “It is possible (there will be better protection) based on immunogenicity and UK trial efficacy data. The US data indicates good protection with shorter intervals, so real world monitoring will show how much extending the gap matters,” said Dr Gagandeep Kang, one of India’s top vaccine experts.
A recommendation to delay second doses of AZD1222 was first made by UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) in December, when the group of experts cited data and an urgency to speed up first shots while the country grappled with a serious wave of infections.
On February 1, a group of experts led by those from University of Oxford disclosed new phase III trial data to The Lancet for peer review supporting the decision. The data showed that expanding the interval between the two doses of the vaccine to three months helped increase the efficacy rate to 82.4%, compared to 54.9% if the second dose was given less than six weeks after the first.
Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan communicated the NTAGI and NEGVAC recommendation on Monday to the chief secretaries of all states and union territories. “Keeping the existing scientific evidence in view, it appears that protection is enhanced if the second dose of Covishield is administered between 6-8 weeks, but not later than stipulated period of 8 weeks,” the letter said.
Bhushan also urged the states to instruct officials concerned accordingly, to undertake necessary steps to widely disseminate the message of revised dosing interval and ensure adherence to the revised dosing interval.
