The Health Ministry said on Wednesday that the decision to increase the gap between two doses of Covishield from 6-8 weeks to 12-16 weeks was recommended by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), based on real-life evidence, particularly from the UK.
The Ministry issued the statement in view of media reports suggesting that there was dissent among the technical experts regarding the decision on interval between two shots.
“It may be noted that the decision of increasing the gap is based on the scientific reason regarding behaviour of adenovector vaccines, and has been discussed thoroughly in meetings of COVID-19 Working Group and Standing Technical Sub-Committee (STSC) of NTAGI, with no dissent from any member,” said the Ministry in a statement.
In both the meetings of the NTAGI-Covid-19 Working Group and Standing Technical Sub-Committee, which were held on May 10 and May 13, “no dissent was given by any of the three members who have been quoted in a news report by Reuters, namely Dr Mathew Varghese, Dr MD Gupte and Dr JP Muliyil”.
“Further, it is on record that Dr Varghese has denied talking to Reuters on the issue of his alleged dissent,” the statement furhter stated.