Covid vaccine gap increase based on science, not supply: Government
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Synopsis
The ministry of health and family welfare had said that the decision was taken after considering data from UK which had introduced a gap of 12 weeks between two AstraZeneca doses. However, UK reduced the gap from 12 to 8 weeks on Friday citing the spread of B.1.617 variant of the virus that originated in India.
Reuters
6-8 weeks gap for Covishield at the beginning of India’s immunisation drive in January was led by the fact that enough data wasn’t available to introduce a 12-week interval.
A day after the UK reduced the gap between two
Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health said the containment efforts of the Centre are working and the overall positivity rate in India, which stood at 21.9% last week, has now fallen to 19.8%
Watch | When Should COVID Patients Take the Vaccine?
The Sputnik V vaccine will be available in Indian markets from next week.
In today’s episode of
The Wire‘s Covid Bulletin, we bring to you the number of new cases and fatalities reported from across the country.
In other news, clearing the air, the government panel has suggested that patients who recovered from COVID-19 should get vaccinated only after six months. It has also issued recommendations on the duration between two shots of vaccine.
Meanwhile, the Bihar government has decided to extend its lockdown in the state from May 16 to May 25 to contain the spiralling number of new infections.
Dr VK Paul reminded that India earlier did not go for the gap of 12 weeks, despite a decision by the UK to do so, as there was no evidence on its effectiveness back then.