Decision to extend Covishield dose gap based on science: health minister

The decision regarding enhancing interval between two doses of Covishield was based on scientific evidence and taken in a transparent manner, health minister Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday. He added that it is unfortunate that such a crucial matter is being politicised. 

On Tuesday, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization head Dr N K Arora had also clarified that the decision was transparent and unanimous. 

The govt's clarification came after some reports claimed that scientists didn't agree with enhancing the gap. A Reuters report quoted a former director of the National Institute of Epidemiology, MD Gupte, who claimed that the government's expert panel did not agree to increase the gap to 12 to 16 weeks at one leap.

The government had on May 13 extended the gap between the two doses of the Covishield vaccine from 6-8 weeks to 12-16 weeks.