On May 13, when the Indian government increased the duration between two doses of the Covishield vaccine to 12 weeks-16 weeks from eight weeks-six weeks, it cited “real life evidences, particularly from UK”.
The decision, according to members of India’s Covid Working Group that recommended it, was driven by studies that suggested that the first dose of the vaccine, developed by Oxford University and the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca, provided substantial protection.
Now new “real life” data released by Public Health England on Saturday indicates that the protection offered by one dose of the vaccine could be considerably lower than previously thought, particularly against the B.1.617 variant. Genome sequencing data shows that the variant, first found in India, was found in 65% of samples sequenced.
However, members of India’s Working Group say it is too early to change track once again. “We don’t intend to blindly follow the UK,” said NK Arora, the…