Doctors' forum seeks reverting to 6-8 weeks gap between two Covieshield doses

A forum of scientists and doctors on Friday demanded that the government should revert to the original COVID-19 vaccination schedule for administering 'Covishield' to people by keeping a gap of six to eight weeks between its two doses.

The Centre had on May 13 approved extending the gap between the two doses of the Covishield vaccine from six to eight weeks to 12-16 weeks following a recommendation from the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI).

The Union health ministry had on Wednesday dismissed media reports claiming there was dissent from technical experts about increasing the gap between two Covishield doses and said the decision was based on scientific reason about the behaviour of adenovector vaccines.

The Progressive Medicos and Scientist Forum, in a statement, on Friday demanded that the government should revert to the original vaccination schedule for AstraZeneca's Covieshield vaccine.

''The announcement of the health ministry to increase the gap between two doses of Covishield vaccine from 6-8 weeks to 12-16 not only fails scientific scrutiny, but has also stirred dissent in their hand picked ensemble called the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization,'' the forum claimed in the statement.

It urged the government to procure more vaccines and restore the original vaccination schedule for Covieshield vaccine by "keeping a gap of 6-8 weeks" between its two doses.