Govt panel suggests increasing gap between two doses of Covishield

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New Delhi: The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) has recommended increasing the gap between two doses of Covishield vaccine to 12-16 weeks, sources said on Thursday.

It has also suggested that pregnant women may be offered the choice to take any COVID-19 vaccine and that lactating women can be inoculated any time after delivery.

The NTAGI has also stated that those having laboratory tests proven SARS-CoV-2 illness should defer COVID-19 vaccination for six months after recovery, the sources said.

Currently, the interval between two doses of Covishield is four to eight weeks.

No change in dosage interval for Covaxin has been suggested by the panel.

The recommendations of the NTAGI will be sent to the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19.

The panel also rejected the proposal for routinely screening all vaccine recipients with rapid antigen testing prior to COVID vaccination.

The NTAGI recommended that all pregnant women visiting for ANC care may be informed about the risks and benefits associated with Covishield and Covaxin. Based on the information provided, a pregnant woman may be offered the choice to take any of the COVID 19 vaccines.

An educational tool comprising information on the risk of COVID 19 infection during pregnancy, benefits associated with the vaccination, and rare complications associated with vaccines like thrombosis and thrombocytopenia (with Covishield) may be developed.

Also, all lactating women are eligible to receive the COVID 19 vaccines any time after delivery, the panel suggested.

According to the current vaccination protocol, pregnant and lactating women should not be administered the shots as they have not been part of any anti-coronavirus vaccine clinical trial so far.

In the case of individuals who have received the first dose and before completion of the dosing schedule if they test positive for COVID-19, they should wait for 4-8 weeks after clinical recovery from the illness.

Also, COVID-19 patients who have been given anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma may defer COVID-19 vaccination for three months from the day of discharge from hospital, the recommendations stated.

Individuals having any other serious illness requiring hospitalization or ICU care should also wait for 4-8 weeks before getting the next COVID vaccine, it added.