Covaxin second dose gap: What is the ideal duration between two doses of Covaxin?

India has been experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases lately. In a tweet posted on March 23, 2021, Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change revealed that in the 20th meeting between the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) and subsequently by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC), the organisations revealed that the time duration between the two doses could determine the Covishield efficacy greatly. Hence, Union Cabinet declared that the Covishield second dose duration will be 4 to 8 weeks after the first one. This prompted many people to question whether Covaxin second dose duration has been changed too.

What is Covaxin Second dose time?

Following the directives by the Central government, state health minister Rajesh Tope, in Pune said that in Maharastra the second dose of Covishield vaccine is to be given 45 days after the first. He also stated that the Covaxin second dose will be given 28 days after the first dose, as was being done earlier. It's recommended to download the covid vaccination certificate for officials to know the dates and location for the first dose of Covaxin. So far it has not been revealed whether the time duration affects the covaxin efficacy.

A report in Hindustan Times revealed that on Monday, March 22, 2021, Maharashtra state COVID expert Subhash Salunke had written to the centre to increase the time interval between Covishield doses after he tested positive for the virus after taking the second dose. Hence, the Union Cabinet made such a decision. So far no such duration changes have been made for Covaxin second dose time.

Govt of India has granted emergency use authorization to two COVID-19 vaccines — Pune-based Serum Institute of India’s Covishield and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Ltd’s Covaxin. Both these vaccines are being used for GOI’s vaccination drive. Union Minister Javadekar also announced on Tuesday that starting April 1, all people above 45 years old will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccination.

The Union Minister said, “It has been decided that from 1st April, the vaccine will open for everybody above 45 years of age. We request that all eligible should immediately register and get vaccinated," according to a report in the Union Health Ministry’s website, a total of 4.72 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the.

On Monday, March 22, a total of 19,65,635 doses had been given. Right now India faces an alarming surge in fresh Covid cases, which was driven in part by the spread of the more contagious mutant strains, the Union Health Ministry urged people to stay calm and assured that there is no shortage of vaccine stocks.

Image Credit: Unsplash