2nd dose of Covishield after 12-16 weeks: Govt TASK FORCE TO REVIEW USE OF PLASMA TO TREAT COVID-19 TODAY
Expert panel says no change for Covaxin, suggests people who were infected wait 6 months before a shot
NEW DELHI: Indians who took the first dose of Covishield should take their second shot between 12-16 weeks later, the Union government said on Thursday, approving a new set of recommendations from a technical expert group that will help give the first doses to more people and is consistent with studies that suggest a longer interval may offer better efficacy.
The doubling of the gap between doses from 6-8 weeks to 12-16 applies only to the Covishield dose, with the suggested interval for Covaxin remaining at 4-6 weeks. At least 90% of the doses administered in India are of Covishield, the made in
India version of the Oxford-astrazeneca vaccine, according to the CO-WIN dashboard data as on Thursday.
“Based on the available reallife evidences, 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 interval of Covaxin vaccine doses was recommended,” said a statement by the government.
The statement added that the suggestion was accepted by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC), headed by Niti Aayog member VK Paul, in its meeting on May 12 and finally the Union health ministry.
“The earlier recommendation for a gap of 4-6 weeks was based on data available at the time. As more data became available, it was seen that increasing the duration helps,” Paul said at the government’s weekly press briefing on the Covid-10 situation on Thursday.
“Now, this decision is based on periodic reviews and on what we have seen as the reallife experience in UK where millions have taken the dose. The data was closely analysed and WHO experts were consulted, so we can be confident about the science around this decision,” he added.
According to officials aware of the matter, who asked not to be named, the government’s expert committees are also deliberating upon questions on if pregnant women or lactating mothers can be given coronavirus vaccines, and whether people who recovered from an infection should wait at least six months before they get a dose.
Several countries have also deliberated on these questions and some have clear policies. The UK’S Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended that the second dose of the Oxfordastrazeneca vaccine be given up to 12 weeks after the first. The European Medicines
NEW DELHI The Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) national task force on Covid-19 is scheduled to meet on Friday to decide on the inappropriate use of convalescent plasma therapy in the treatment of ailing Covid-19 patients, news agency ANI reported quoting ICMR sources.
This meeting comes against the backdrop of clinicians and scientists in the country writing to the government’s principal scientific advisor K Vijay Raghavan urging caution against the “irrational and non-scientific use” of convalescent plasma in treating Covid-19 patients.
Concerns were raised after the Union health ministry issued revised guidelines, allowing the “off-label” use of convalescent plasma to treat patients of Covid-19 within 7 days of the onset of the disease.