New Delhi. Between Corona’s havoc and vaccine shortage in the country, the government group NTAGI recommends increasing the difference between the two doses of the Covishield vaccine to 12–16 weeks. The current protocol requires a gap of 6 to 8 weeks between two doses of covishield. The panel has rejected a proposal to conduct rapid antigen screening of those who had been vaccinated prior to Covid vaccination.
The National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NTAGI) has not recommended any change in the interval between doses of covaxine. Right now this interval is 4 to 8 weeks. NTAGI said that those who have suffered from Kovid-19 should not get vaccinated for six months after getting healthy. Pregnant women can be given the option to get any Kovid-19 vaccine and breast-fed women can get vaccinated at any time after giving birth. These suggestions from NTAGI will be forwarded to the National Expert Group of Kovid-19 (NEGVAC) to look into vaccination for approval.
Based on existing evidence, especially from the UK, the Kovid-19 working group has agreed to increase the interval between two doses of the Covishield vaccine to 12 to 16 weeks. The current vaccination protocol states that since the clinical trial has not yet included pregnant and lactating women, they should not be vaccinated. Those who have received the first dose of vaccine and if they become infected before the second dose is administered should wait four to eight weeks before receiving the next dose after recovering.