Controversy over the interval between two doses of Covishield, Health Minister said – decision based on scientific data

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has clarified the controversy over increasing the difference between two doses of Covishield, the coronavirus vaccine in India, to 12-16 weeks instead of 6-8 weeks. Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan tweeted that the decision to increase the interval between two doses of Covishield has been taken transparently based on scientific data.

The Health Minister further said that India has mechanisms to assess such data health. Unfortunately, such cases are also being politicized. This statement of the Union Health Minister comes in the wake of discussions that it is being said that the interval of vaccine dose has been done without the support of the scientific group.

News agency Reuters has claimed that the advisory board members, who had claimed to be the consensus behind this decision, did not recommend increasing the interval between two doses of Covishield from 12 to 16 weeks. . According to Reuters, the advisory board had recommended increasing the interval between two doses of Covishield from 8 to 12 weeks, but the government on 13 May voluntarily increased this interval from 12 to 16 weeks.

Dr. NK Arora, head of the Government's National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NTAGI) working group on COVID-19, has said that the emerging evidence regarding the effectiveness of partial immunization and full immunization is being considered and it is also being brainstormed. It is ongoing whether India should reduce the interval between the two doses of Covidhield, the anti-Covid-19 vaccine, again to four to eight weeks. Arora said the decision to increase the interval between two doses of Covishield from 4-6 weeks to 12-16 weeks was taken on scientific grounds and there were no differences among NTAGI members on this.