Odisha: Interval For Second Dose Of Covishield Vaccine Increased In State

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to extend the interval between two doses of Covishield vaccine from the existing four to six weeks time to four to eight weeks in the State.

The decision follows a recommendation from the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) and National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC), which had advised the change in the schedule based on emerging scientific evidence.

The State Health and Family Welfare Department on Wednesday issued an advisory to all Collectors,  District Magistrates,  Municipal Commissioners, Chief District Medical Officers and Primary Health Centers in this regard.

“Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India has advised to ensure the second dose of Covishield vaccination to beneficiaries within stipulated time interval of four to eight weeks after the first dose. MoHFW has also communicated that protection should be enhanced if the second dose of the vaccine is administered between six to eight weeks, but not later than the stipulated period of eight weeks,” said the advisory issued by Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra, Additional Chief Secretary.

Following this change, the CoWIN portal also would not automatically schedule appointments for the second dose beneficiaries. They will be informed about the interval and they can decide the date of the second visit within the stipulated time frame.

This revised time interval between two doses is applicable only to Covishield and the change is not applicable for Covaxin vaccine, the advisory stated.