'Decision Unanimous': Govt Counters NTAGI's Claim On Non Agreement For AstraZeneca's Covid Vaccine Interval

After reports of dissent surfaced, the government stated that increasing the gap between the two doses of Covishield to 12 to 16 weeks was what all experts agreed on.

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A day after three members of the Centre's vaccine expert group, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), reportedly stated that they did not support the decision to increase the time between two doses of Covishield vaccine to 12 to 18 weeks, the government clarified on Wednesday that there was no disagreement with the decision.

The expert group's chairman, NK Arora, stated that the working group unanimously agreed to increase the interval between doses from eight to twelve weeks.

“We have a very open and transparent system where decisions are taken on a scientific basis. The Covid Working Group took that decision, with no dissenting voice. This issue was then discussed threadbare at an NTAGI meeting, again with no dissenting notes. The recommendation was that the vaccine interval has to be 12 - 16 weeks," Dr Arora said.

READ: 12-16 Weeks Gap Between Astrazeneca Doses Not Backed By Indian Scientific Group

The controversy explained

The issue is the time interval between the first and second doses of the Covishield vaccine. India increased the interval between doses to 12 to 16 weeks on May 13, following in the footsteps of the United Kingdom and several other countries. The decision was supported by real-world findings, which initially demonstrated that the cover provided by the first dose lasts a long time. More recent studies have revealed that the level of protection is not as high as previously estimated. As a result, countries are returning to an 8–12-week gap between the two doses of Covishield.

According to a Reuters report, MD Gupte, a former director of the National Institute of Epidemiology, claimed that the government's expert panel did not agree to increase the gap to 12 to 16 weeks in one leap. It agreed to extend the period to 8-12 weeks, as recommended by the World Health Organization. "Eight to 12 weeks is something we all accepted, 12 to 16 weeks is something the government has come out with...This may be alright, may not be. We have no information on that," he told Reuters.