Reviewing reducing gap between jabs, says govt
NEW DELHI: India’s vaccination expert group is reviewing the decision to delay the second doses of Covishield, a top government expert said on Friday, as new scientific evidence from other countries suggest a single dose may not be adequately protective against the Delta variant of the coronavirus that has swept across the country.
Vaccine efficacy rates plummeted to under 35% in people who had only their first dose when exposed to the variant, data from the UK showed last month, prompting many experts to urge the Centre to reverse its decision to make a mandatory 12-week gap between doses. The latest among these was by Dr K Srinath Reddy, president, Public Health Foundation of India.
“His suggestion has been made based on data in the context of mutations in the virus; he has quoted two-three quality studies and suggested the interval should be reduced again to 8 weeks as was practised earlier. Let it be examined by our NTAGI (National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation in India). It is a process. Even United Kingdom must have changed it after reviewing the data by scientific committees and experts,” said Dr VK Paul, member, Niti Aayog.
“Earlier they (UK officials) were giving it at 12 weeks and we were giving the second dose at a shorter interval because our experts felt it wasn’t safe to increase the interval. The decisions are made based on scientific evidences,” said Paul.
Serum Institute of India (SII) locally manufacturers Oxfordastrazeneca Covid-19 AZD1222 vaccine under the brand name Covishield.
The vaccine was tested using a four week prime-boost regimen but real world data from UK showed it led to a better protection when the second dose was delayed by 8-12 weeks. “We will assign the responsibility to our scientific forum created in the country for the purpose. I am sure they are already addressing the issue, and will examine it keeping in mind the Indian context; the Indian disease pattern and the presence of variants circulating here. They need to take a comprehensive view and they will. We will abide by the decision made by the experts in this regard. Having said that, there is no need to panic, and switch rules overnight; these decisions must be taken carefully,” Paul added.
Experts said that four weeks is ideal in a pandemic situation to administer the second dose. “In the middle of the pandemic, postponing the second dose is not logical.