2nd dose gap of Covishield can be reduced to 8-16 weeks in place of 12-16 weeks: NTAGI

March 20: At present, the second dose of Covishield is administered between 12 and 16 weeks after the first. However, India’s top expert body on immunisation NTAGI has recommended reducing the gap between the first and the second Covishield vaccine doses to between eight and 16 weeks. The recommendation for Covishield is yet to be implemented in the national Covid-19 vaccination programme. The latest recommendation is based on recent global scientific evidence derived from programmatic data.

Infact, the government had on 13 May, 2021 extended the gap between the first and second doses of the Covishield vaccine from 6 to 8 weeks to 12 to 16 weeks based on the recommendations of NTAGI.