The Centre on Tuesday clarified that the decision regarding extending the interval between the two doses of COVID-19 vaccine Covishield was based on scientific evidence. The statements were made by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI ) chairperson Dr NK Arora on Tuesday. He also said the decision was taken in a transparent manner, reported PTI.

“There was no dissenting voice among the members of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI ),” said Dr Arora as per a health ministry’s tweet.

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The government on May 31 extended the gap between two Covishield doses to 12-16 weeks from 6-8 weeks. The call was taken on the recommendation of the NTAGI.

On June 1, NITI Ayog member Dr VK Paul also clarified that the extension is based on logical evidence and thus, one should panic about the time interval.

Dr Paul’s statements came after Dr Anthony Fauci, United States COVID-19 expert talked about the potential vulnerability due to the extended vaccine gap. He said that an extended time gap between the vaccine dosage may increase an individual’s vulnerability against several variants.