India’s apex body on immunisation NTAGI has recommend administering the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine Covishield between 8 and 16 weeks after the first dose, as per official sources.
The second dose of Covishield is given between 12-16 weeks after the first dose under the National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy as of now.
The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) has not yet suggest any change in the schedule of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, whose second dose is administered 28 days after the first dose.
The recommendation for Covishield is yet to be implement in the national COVID-19 vaccination programme.
As per official source :
“The latest recommendation of NTAGI is based on recent global scientific evidence derived from programmatic data,”.
“According to it, when the second dose of Covishield is given eight weeks onwards, the antibody response generated is almost similar when administered at an interval of 12 to 16 weeks,”.
The decision will lead to accelerate administration of the second dose of Covishield to the remaining six to seven crore individuals after rising cases in many countries.
Government had on 13th May 2021, extend the gap between the first and second doses of the Covishield vaccine from 6-8 weeks to 12-16 weeks base on the recommendations by NTAGI.
NTAGI provides guidance and advice to the Union Health Ministry on immunisation services for the effective control of vaccine-preventable diseases in the country.
