The State government on Friday urged citizens not to come to vaccination centres before completing the 12-week period after taking the first dose of the Covishield vaccine.
The directive came a day after the interval between the first and second dose of Covishield was revised by the Centre. The State government said, “The interval of 6 to 8 weeks for Covishield vaccination between two doses is revised to 12 to 16 weeks.”
The move has irked many citizens, who said their work schedules and travel plans have been affected by the change in vaccination schedule. “My son and daughter live in the United States and we wanted to travel in June after taking our second dose six weeks after our first shot. But now we will have to cancel our travel plans” said 50-year-old Sriram H., a businessman.
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Data analyst Krithika S., 47, said that she had planned to start resuming work at her office in June. “We had told all our employees that we could start working once all of us were fully vaccinated. Now we will have to once again revise our order,” she said.
The Centre on Thursday accepted the COVID-19 Working Group’s recommendation for extending the gap between the two doses of Covishield. This revised time interval between two doses is applicable only to Covishield and not to Covaxin vaccine, said a press statement.
But many people who were due to get their second dose are worried about the efficacy after a prolonged interval. “This decision was taken only because of the vaccine shortage. I am worried about how effective the vaccine will be if the interval is extended to 12-16 weeks,” said a senior citizen.
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