People turned away as 12-wk rule for Covishield kicks in

People turned away as 12-wk rule for Covishield kicks in

Alok K N Mishra & Amin Ali TNN

New Delhi:16.05.2021 

Two days after the Centre approved extending the gap between two doses of the Covishield vaccine from 6-8 weeks to 12-16 weeks, many people in the 45+ age group who had booked their second dose on the CoWin portal got a rude shock. They were turned away from vaccination centres across the city on Saturday. They had no inkling of the change and the CoWin portal didn’t in any way reflect it.

Arguments broke out at the vaccination centres with people who had completed 42-56 days after the first dose claiming they had not received any message or mail and should be allowed the second dose. The civil defence volunteers and other officials had a hard time convincing them that they had to go back.

Dilpreet Kaur, a 65-yearold resident of Lajpat Nagar, whose daughter in the US had booked a slot for her, was quite distressed that she would now have to wait for almost a month for the second dose.

She said senior citizens, especially those like her who stay alone, should have been allowed to take their second shot. The change has been brought about following a recommendation by the Covid Working Group, chaired by Dr N K Arora, which had been accepted by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19. It is based on the experience of the United Kingdom.

Ambiguity over whether this was only an advisory ended when people turned up at the vaccination centres on Saturday morning. They were told that they would get the second dose only after they completed at least 12 weeks (84 days). The orders from the central government seemed to have travelled to the Delhi government with lightning speed, bypassing the CoWin portal. It showed no change in the status of people, including many elderly citizens, who had found a slot with great difficulty, travelled some distance and stood in queue.

The Delhi government has been asked by the Centre to ensure that the second dose of Covishield is given at an interval of 12 to 16 weeks. This has been conveyed in a letter written to the chief secretary of all states and Union territories by the secretary, ministry of health & family welfare, Rajesh Bhushan. An immunisation officer in Delhi said officials and vaccinators have been asked to ensure adherence to the revised dosing interval.

Arguments broke out at vaccination centres with people claiming they had not received any message and should be allowed the second dose