MUMBAI: India decide to stick to the 28-day gap between two strokes Covidshield vaccine, but there is growing evidence that a longer gap – almost three months – would be better. In a study published in the medical journal The Lancet, researchers from Oxford University (where Covishield was developed) has an interval of three months between the doses of the vaccine results in a higher vaccine efficacy rather than an interval of six weeks.
The study said that the first dose of the vaccine provides up to three months 76% protection. Many doctors in India have also increased the theory “better antibody polls with a longer gap” at the government.
We believe that there should be a gap of two months between the two shots, ‘says dr. Shashank Joshi, who is a member of the Maharashtra Covid task force. The other important message of the new Lancet study is that a longer gap will enable countries to vaccinate a larger section of their population faster.
In a statement, the study’s lead author Andrew Pollard of the University of Oxford said: “If there is a limited supply, the policy of initially vaccinating more people with a single dose may offer greater immediate protection than vaccinating half the number of people with two doses.”
The team also found that a single dose of vaccine is very effective in the first three months (76% efficacy from 22 days after vaccination). “The antibody levels against the SARS-CoV-2 ear protein remained at the same levels for three months,” the Lancet study said.
