Dr Anthony Fauci said the Indian government's decision to increase the gap between Covishield doses was unlikely to have a negative effect on vaccine efficacy.

The Indian government’s decision to extend the duration between the first and second dose of the Covishield vaccine is a “reasonable approach”, the United States’ top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci said in an interview to news agency ANI. Fauci said the government’s move would help ensure that more people receive at least one dose of the vaccine.

“When you are in a very difficult situation, the way you are in India, you have to try and figure out ways to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as you can, so I believe that it is a reasonable approach to do,” Fauci told ANI. “It is unlikely that a long delay would have a negative effect on vaccine efficacy.”

This comes after the Centre on Thursday announced that it was extending the interval between two doses of the Covishield vaccine from six-eight weeks to 12-16 weeks, citing “real-life evidence” from the UK. Covishield accounts for 90 per cent of the 17.8 crore vaccine doses administered so far.

Source: The Indian Express