COVISHIELD: Increasing the gap between the two doses of Covishield at 12 to 16 weeks was what all experts agreed, the Government has said after reports of dissension surfaces.
A day after three members of the Expert Group of the Vaccine Center, the National Innumination Technical Advisory Group (NTAGI), reported, said they did not support the decision to expand the gap between the two doses of covishield vaccine at 12 to 18 Weeks, the Government on Wednesday clarified that there was no dissidence regarding the decision. The president of the group of experts, NK Arora, said the Working Group unanimously agreed to increase the gap between eight weeks to 12 weeks. “We have a very open and transparent system where decisions are made on a scientific basis. The Covid Working Group made that decision, without dissident voice. This problem was discussed in Threadbare at an NTAGI meeting, again without dissident notes. The recommendation was That the vaccine interval has to be 12 to 16 weeks, “said Dr. Arora.
What is the controversy?
The controversy is with respect to the gap between the first and second dose of the COVISHIELD vaccine. On May 13, India increased the gap between doses at 12 to 16 weeks, the following in the footsteps of the United Kingdom and several other countries. The decision was supported by real-life findings that initially showed that the cover offered by the first dose remains long.
Now, more recent studies have revealed that protection is not as much as estimated. Therefore, the countries return again to 8-12 weeks of gap between the two doses of COVISHIELD.
A Reuters report quoted a former director of the National Institute of Epidemiology, MD Guptte, who claimed that the Government’s expert panel did not agree on increasing the gap at 12 to 16 weeks to a leap. He agreed to expand the gap at 8-12 weeks, as advised by the World Health Organization. “Eight to 12 weeks is something we all accept, 12 to 16 weeks is something that the government has come out with … This may be fine, it may not be. We do not have information about that,” he said to Reuters.
Disagreement reports between experts related to various aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic and its handling are not new. Shahid Jameel, an important Indian virologist, who directed the Genomic Genomic Genomic consortium from India Sars-COV-2 renouncing the group on a disagreement, although he did not give any reason for him.
