MUMBAI: India have decided to stay on the 28-day gap between two shots Covidshield vaccine, but there is growing evidence that a larger gap (almost three months) would be better. In a study published in the medical journal The Lancet, researchers at Oxford University (where Covishield took place) said an interval of three months between dose of the vaccine results in a higher vaccine efficacy than in a six-week interval.
The first dose of the vaccine offers 76% protection for up to three months, according to the study. Many doctors in India had also posed to the government the theory of “best antibody levels with a longer gap”.
We believe that a two-month gap should be provided between the two shots, “said Dr. Shashank Joshi, a member of the Maharashtra Covid work team. The other important message of the new Lancet study is that a larger gap would allow countries to vaccinate a larger proportion of their population more quickly.
In a statement, the study’s lead author, Andrew Pollard, of the journal Oxford University he said: “When there is a limited supply, initial vaccination policies for more people with a single dose can provide immediate protection for the population than vaccinating half the number of people with two doses.”
The team also found that a single dose of vaccine is highly effective in the first three months (76% efficacy from 22 days after vaccination). “Antibody levels against the SARS-CoV-2 peak protein were maintained at similar levels for 3 months,” the Lancet study said.