Reduce gap between Covishield vaccine doses, NTAGI recommends

New Delhi: The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) has recommended that second dose of Covishield can be administered from 8 to 16 weeks after first dose. Currently the second dose is being given 12-16 weeks after the first dose.

The recommendation is aimed at reducing the time-span between the two doses that will lead to accelerated administration of the second shot of dose of Covishield to the remaining six to seven crore individuals.

The Central Government had on 13 May 2021 extended the gap between the first and second doses of the Covishield vaccine from six to eight weeks to 12-16 weeks, based on the recommendations by NTAGI.

Covishield is a recombinant, replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus vector encoding the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) glycoprotein. Following administration, the genetic material of part of corona virus is expressed which stimulates an immune response. It consists of two doses of 0.5 ml each and there is no difference between the 1st and 2nd dose. Each dose has the same content of viral particles.

The NTAGI has not yet suggested any change in the schedule of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, whose second dose is administered 28 days after the first dose.

Meanwhile, India on Sunday recorded 1,761 fresh coronavirus infections, the lowest in around 688 days, taking the country’s tally to 4,30,07,841, while the active cases declined further to 26,240, according to Health Ministry data.