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The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday, 1 June, said that there is absolutely no change in the schedule of Covishield doses and that it would continue to remain two doses, at an interval of 12 weeks.
“There is absolutely no change,” NITI Aayog member Dr VK Paul said on Tuesday, adding that this would be the schedule moving forward and that there should not be any confusion about this.
It was also reported that the Indian government plans to launch a study on mixing of vaccines, which could be completed in the next two months.
However, on Tuesday, the Centre stated that mixing of vaccine doses is not the protocol yet, and the same vaccines – Covishield and Covaxin – would be administered for both doses.
The Centre said that international research underway on the mixing of vaccines as the possibility of a positive effect is also plausible, but added that a harmful reaction cannot be ruled out either. It is an unresolved scientific question, science will settle it, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Balram Bhargava also reiterated that there is no shortage of vaccine.
Concerned with the impact of COVID on children, Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog said that the virus may change its behaviour in the pediatric population.
Paul said that COVID-19 in children has been found in two ways— while some have reported pneumonia-like symptoms, some cases of a multi inflammatory syndrome have been found among children who recently recovered from COVID-19.
"The focus on childhood COVID disease is gaining our attention. The pediatric population is generally asymptomatic. They often get infections but their symptoms are minimal or nil. The infection has not taken serious shape in children," he added.
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