On Covishield Dose Gap Controversy, Health Minister's Clarification

Dr Harsh Vardhan's message comes as the government counters reports members of its immunisation advisory group did not actually discuss extending dosage intervals

The decision to increase the gap between two doses of the Covishield vaccine was "transparent" and "based on scientific data", Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan tweeted Wednesday, echoing yesterday's tweet by Dr NK Arora, the head of the centre's immunisation advisory group. Decision to increase the gap between administering 2 doses of #COVISHIELD has been taken in a transparent manner based on scientific data.India has a robust mechanism to evaluate data.It's unfortunate that such an important issue is being politicised!https://t.co/YFYMLHi21L "The decision to increase the gap between administering two doses of Covishield has been taken in a transparent manner based on scientific data. India has a robust mechanism to evaluate data. It is unfortunate that such an important issue is being politicised!" the Health Minister tweeted. Dr Vardhan's message comes as the government looks to counter reports that members of its National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) did not actually discuss extending dosage intervals from six-eight weeks to 12-16 weeks.