Covishield Interval Extended On Scientific Evidence, Says Central Panel Chief

New Delhi: The call to increase the interval between two doses of Covishield was on the basis of scientific evidence and taken in a transparent manner, according to NTAGI Chair NK Arora on Tuesday.

Also, according to a tweet by the Union Health Ministry, there was no dissenting voice among the members of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI).

The Centre had said on May 13 that it has accepted the recommendation of the COVID-19 Working Group and extended the interval between the two doses of the Covishield from 6-8 weeks to 12-16 weeks.

“Based on the available real-life evidence, particularly from the UK, the COVID-19 Working Group agreed for increasing the dosing interval to 12-16 weeks between two doses of Covishield vaccine. No change in the interval of Covaxin vaccine doses was recommended,” the ministry had said via a statement.

“The recommendation of the COVID-19 Working Group was accepted by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC), headed by Dr. V K Paul, Member (Health), Niti Aayog, in its meeting on May 12, 2021,” the ministry further said.

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