Govt revises gap between 2 doses of Covishield, can be taken between four & eight weeks

New Delhi: In view of the emerging scientific evidence, the Union Health ministry has on Monday asked states/UTs to increase the gap between two doses of the Covishield vaccine from 28 days to six to eight weeks for better results. The Health ministry has written a letter to all states/UTs in this regard.

However, the decision of the revised time interval between two doses is applicable only to Covishield and not to Covaxin.

According to the Health ministry, the interval between two doses of a specific Covid vaccine i.e. Covishield has been revisited by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) and subsequently by NEGVAC in its 20th meeting during which the recommendation has been revised to provide a second dose of Covishield at 4-8 weeks' interval after the first dose instead of the earlier practised interval of 4-6 weeks.

In a letter written to the Chief Secretaries of states and UTs on Monday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said: "The ministry has accepted the recommendations of NTAGI and NEGVAC and has thereafter advised the states/UTs to ensure the administration of the second dose of Covishield to beneficiaries within this stipulated time interval of 4-8 weeks after the first dose."

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 the stipulated period of eight weeks, he said.

The Health Secretary has urged states and UTs to instruct the officials concerned accordingly to undertake necessary steps to widely disseminate the message of revised dosing interval amongst programme managers, vaccinators and recipients of Covishield vaccine and ensure adherence to the revised dosing interval, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, India on Monday administered 19,65,635 vaccine doses to beneficiaries till 7 pm on the 66th day of the nationwide vaccination drive.

As per the ministry's provisional report, a total of 4,72,07,134 vaccine doses have been given till 7 pm, which includes 78,30,626 healthcare workers who have taken the first dose and 49,30,888 healthcare workers who have taken the second dose, while 81,72,121 frontline workers have been given the first dose and 27,93,013 frontline workers have been administered the second dose.

In the category of senior citizens above 60 years, 1,94,07,739 beneficiaries have been given the first dose and 40,72,747 beneficiaries aged 45 and above with specific co-morbidities have taken the first shot of the vaccine.