Govt panel to look at reducing gap in doses
Govt terms vaccine essential commodity, calls for reducing wastage so that more people can be vaccinated in India
NEW DELHI: The National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NTAGI) will look at data emerging from countries including the UK to decide whether the gap between the two doses of Covid-19 vaccines must be reduced with evidence suggesting that a single dose might not provide required protection, the Union ministry of health and family welfare said on Friday.
Covid-19 vaccine is an essential public health commodity with global scarcity and therefore, its wastage must be reduced and kept to a minimum level which will further help inoculate many people, the ministry.
“Any reduction in wastage means inoculating more people and leads to strengthening the fight against COVID-19. Each dose saved means vaccinating one more person,” a ministry statement said.
The statement has come weeks after the government extended the gap between the doses of the double-dose AstraZeneca vaccine, being manufacture by the Serum Institute of India and sold under the brand name Covishield, to 12-16 weeks from the existing six to eight weeks.
Further, all states and union territories have also been advised that each vaccination session is expected to cater to a at least 100 beneficiaries, the statement said.
NEW DELHI : India’s vaccination expert group NTAGI will look at new data from other countries such as UK to decide whether the delay of the second doses of Covid-19 vaccines must be reduced, as new evidence shows just one dose offers scant protection, the Union health ministry said on Friday.
Paul was responding to suggestions in this regard made 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 then the interval should be reduced again to 8 weeks as was practiced earlier. Let it be examined by our NTAGI (National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation in India)...The decisions are made based on scientific evidences,” said Paul.
The gap between the two doses of Covid-19 vaccines has become a crucial issue as the Centre has revised the gap between two doses of Covishield twice since the beginning of the vaccination drive in January. First, the two doses were meant to be administered four to six weeks apart. Later, the Centre revised it to four to eight weeks. Now, the gap has been increased to 12 to 16 weeks.
However, the gap between the two doses of Covaxin, the vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech, has remained unchanged.
The ministry also termed vaccine an essential public health commodity and called for reducing its wastage to further help inoculate many people.
“Any reduction in wastage means inoculating more people and leads to strengthening the fight against Covid-19. Each dose saved means vaccinating one more person,” the statement from the Union ministry said.
It also said called for equitable access to safe and effective vaccines is critical in ending the Covid-19 pandemic. “Vaccine development takes a lot of time and demand for these vaccines exceeds the supply many times. Thus, it is important to monitor and ensure that this precious tool to address the pandemic should be used optimally and judiciously. Covid-19 vaccine is an essential public health commodity with global scarcity. Therefore, vaccine wastage must be reduced and kept to a minimum level which will further help vaccinate many people,” the ministry said in its statement.
Referring to some media reports stating that the ministry’s insistence on keeping vaccine wastage below 1 per cent is unrealistic and undesirable, it said several states have organised vaccination in such a way, that not only there is no wastage but they are able to extract more doses from the vial and thus show a negative wastage. “Hence, the expectation that vaccine wastage should be 1 per cent or less is not at all unreasonable. It is reasonable, desirable and achievable,” the ministry said.
Further, all states and union territories have also been advised that each vaccination session is expected to cater to a at least of 100 beneficiaries, however, in the case of remote and sparsely populated areas, the state could organise a session for a lesser number of beneficiaries while ensuring that there is no vaccine wastage, the statement said.
A session may be planned only when adequate beneficiaries are available. The post vaccination observation time is optimally utilized to guide the beneficiaries on Covid appropriate behaviour, any possible Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI), and where they could reach out in case of an adverse event. Under any immunization programme, proper micro-planning is essential to ensure that we not only optimally use the available resources but also vaccinate as many beneficiaries to improve coverage. The states and union territories are regularly being guided on it, the statement said.