Increase gap between two doses of covishield to 6-8 weeks, centre tells states | india news - times of india

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday said that the gap between the first and second doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University's Covishield vaccine should be increased to 6-8 weeks from the

current 28 days. In a letter to states/UTs, the Union health ministry said that experts have recommended that the gap between the two doses should be increased since it will lead to

"enhanced protection". The decision was taken based on the recommendation of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) and National Expert Group on Vaccine

Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC). The Centre added that the increased interval is applicable only to Covishield and not to Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. "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 Union health ministry said in a statement. The Union health secretary urged the states/UTs to instruct the officials to undertake necessary steps to widely disseminate the message of

revised dosing interval among programme managers, vaccinators and recipients of Covishield. Covishield, which is the local name of the AstraZeneca vaccine, is being produced by the

Pune-based Serum Institute of India. It is among the two vaccines currently being administered to people.