New Delhi: The recommendation of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) to reduce the gap between the two doses of Covishield vaccine to 8-16 weeks from 12-16 weeks at present, is expected to encourage people to return for their second jab, said a health ministry official.
Currently, there are 50-60 million people who still have not received their second dose of Covishield, the official said requesting anonymity.
“At present, the second dose of Covishield vaccine is administered after 12-16 weeks of the first dose. People don’t return for their second dose due to the long gap between the first and second doses. There are at least 50-60 million people left to receive their second dose. This will also benefit those individuals who are coming for the first dose and they also can return soon for their second dose. Further cases are increasing in other countries. It is better to be cautious,” said the official.
“We have just sent the recommendation based on global scientific evidence and vaccination experience and it is up to the government to make a decision on it,” he added.
The NTAGI panel, a government body, has not made any decision for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin’s second dose which is administered after 28 days of the first dose.
Since the onset of Covid-19 in India, the government of India has been following a “track, test and treat” strategy to fight against the virus.
Witnessing the surge of covid cases in other countries, the union health ministry has urged states and union territories to follow test, track, treat and vaccination protocol within their jurisdiction. To the central government, vaccination is the key tool to fight against the covid-19 infection.
Under nationwide vaccination drive, India has administered more than 1812.4 million vaccine doses so far. It is a key tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID-19.
As on Monday, over 1.8 million vaccine doses were administered for age group 12-14 years and at least 21.7 million have been administered to the eligible beneficiaries so far.
The government has provided about 1.83 billion vaccine doses to states and union territories while more than 172.1 million vaccine doses are in balance and unutilized and still available with states and union territories.
An email sent to the health ministry spokesperson seeking comments for the story remained unanswered at the time of publishing.
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