A government panel said on Thursday, citing unnamed officials, that the time between two doses of the Covishield vaccine could be extended to 12-16 weeks. At the moment, a four-to-eight-week gap is recommended. Covaxin’s dosage protocol, which calls for a four-to-six-week delay, was not altered.
For those that have been infected with coronavirus, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization recommends delaying vaccination for six months after recovery. According to PTI, the panel also stated that pregnant women should be given the option of receiving any of the Covid-19 vaccines, and lactating women may receive the shot at any time after delivery.
The updated recommendations come at a time when vaccine doses are in short supply in many states.
There’s a chasm between Covishield doses
The revision in Covishield vaccine dose, if implemented by the federal government, would be the regimen’s third update.
The Centre instructed states and union territories in March to raise the time between two doses from four to eight weeks, up from the four to six weeks previously recommended. According to The Indian Express, the Centre recommended in April that the second Covishield dose should be taken 6-8 weeks after the first.
The efficacy of the Covishield vaccine, developed by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, increased to 81.3 percent when the two doses were given at a 12-week interval, up from 55.1 percent when given less than six weeks apart, according to a study published in the medical journal Lancet in March.
However, no research on the impact on effectiveness when the delay is longer than 12 weeks is currently available.
After being bitten, get vaccinated
The Center has yet to give an official recommendation on how long a person infected with coronavirus should wait until receiving the vaccine.
According to The Indian Express, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States recommends waiting 90 days after being infected. According to virologist Gagandeep Kang, data from the United Kingdom showed that an infected person’s body could provide up to 80% protection and that he or she could wait up to six months before receiving the vaccine. She said it was in line with World Health Organization guidelines, which stated that natural antibodies are likely to remain in the body until then.
Meanwhile, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization’s recommendations came amid reports of vaccine shortages in many parts of the world, and the lagged dosage regimen could help with that.
As they struggle to inoculate those in the age group of 18-44 who became eligible for the shots in the third phase of vaccination that began on May 1, at least eight states have agreed to put out global tenders for procuring the doses. Under the current vaccination scheme, states and private hospitals are responsible for obtaining vaccinations directly from manufacturers for those aged 18 to 44. However, the policy only allows for the use of half of the vaccines produced by Bharat Biotech and the Serum Institute of India to inoculate nearly 60 million people in this age group. The remaining half of the stock would be used to vaccinate priority groups at the Centre.
According to government statistics, over 17.66 crore doses of the vaccine have been distributed, with about 3.85 crore beneficiaries receiving both doses.
