The statement of Dr. NK Arora of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) has come out on the matter of increasing the gap between the first and second doses of vaccine. Giving the example of England, Dr. Arora has justified this decision of the government. On the other hand, Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that this decision is transparent and has been taken on the basis of a scientific basis.
He has said that after the data of England came out, it has been found that keeping the gap of 12 weeks, the result of vaccination was good from 65% to 88%. There it was of great benefit. Therefore, the vaccination gap in India was increased from 12 to 16 weeks. Dr. Arora has said that this decision has been taken on a scientific basis.
The NTAGI chief has further said that our group has taken this decision collectively. For this, a transparent system was adopted. It is constantly being modified according to the data that is coming out. Earlier, the decision of the gap of 4 to 6 weeks was also taken on the basis of the data available at that time. If the second dose is given between 4 and 6 weeks, the result is 57 to 60 per cent.
Dr. Arora has said that further decision to increase or decrease the gap in 2 doses of Covishield will be done after the research. If it is proved further that there can be benefit by making a gap, then a decision will be taken on it. The gap that has been fixed now, if a good result is obtained on it, then it will be taken forward.
Talking about the England model, the NTAGI chief said that 33% of the results were obtained after the first dose of AstraZeneca and 60% after the second dose. Only after that, it was considered to increase its gap there. However, it is being tracked in India. This will let you know how much benefit you are getting from it.
This is the third change in the gap between Covishield two doses. When vaccination started on January 16, the gap of two doses between Covishield and Covaxin was kept 28-42 days. But on 22 March, the difference of two doses of Covishield was increased from 4-6 weeks to 6-8 weeks. Then on 13 May, this gap was increased to 12-16 weeks.
The new guideline is for those people who have had the first dose and have to go on international travel. They may have to travel for education, employment or as part of an Olympic team. Such people will not have to wait for 84 days for the second dose of Covishield. They can get the second dose done even before this.
Earlier, the Ministry of Health had changed the vaccination schedule of Covishield. After increasing the gap of the second dose twice, it was now reduced for people travelling abroad. There is no need to wait 84 days (12-16 weeks) for two doses in some categories. After 28 days (4-6 weeks) the second dose can be administered. The gap of two doses was reduced only for the Covishield. The gap between 2 doses of Covaxin was 28 days. No changes were made to it.
This change has been made in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued for people travelling outside India. Actually, Covishield has been developed jointly by Oxford University and British company AstraZeneca. It has been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO). In such a situation, people can travel safely outside India if two doses of it are applied. They will be less prone to infection. At the same time, they will also be protected from new rapidly spreading mutant virus strains.
This policy will not apply to everyone. If a person is going to go abroad within 84 days, then only then the second dose can be applied soon. Other people will not get this relief. They will have to wait for 84 days to take the second dose.
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