Dr VK Paul, a member of NITI Aayog on June 11 clarified that there is no need to change the dosage interval of the COVID vaccine Covieshield. He assured that there is no need to panic and change the vaccine dosage in light of the variants in circulation across the nation, reported ANI.

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“Let us adopt due scientific process and respect the decision taken by NTAGI…Covishield vaccine doses gap reduction requires proper scientific study in the context of our country’s scenario”, he said while asking citizens not to panic. 

His statement comes after Dr Anthony Fauci, United States COVID-19 expert’s statement regarding the potential vulnerability due to the extended vaccine gap. 

“The ideal interval between doses for mRNA vaccines is three weeks for Pfizer and four for Moderna. The problem with extending intervals is that you become vulnerable to variants,” he said in an interview with NDTV. 

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While answering a question about the Indian government’s revised interval between two doses of Covishield, he said it may be a necessary step if the country has a small supply. 

Last month he had said that extending the gap between two vaccine doses can be a reasonable approach in lieu of a vaccine shortage. 

“You only have a couple of percentage of the people who are fully vaccinated and over about 10% or so that have at least one dose”, he said in an interview with news agency ANI. 

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The central government on May 13 revised the gap between two doses of the Covishield vaccine, extending it to 12-16 weeks from six-eight weeks.