The State government has decided to extend the interval between two doses of Covishield vaccine from four to six weeks to 4-8 weeks. The decision follows a recommendation from the National Expert Group of Vaccine Administration for COVID-19, which had advised the change in schedule.
Following this change, the CoWIN portal also would not automatically schedule appointments for the second dose. The beneficiaries will be informed about the interval and they can decide the date of the second visit within the stipulated time frame. This change is not applicable for Covaxin, however.
To a question on the stock of vaccines Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan said the State had around 26.14 lakh doses of Covishield and the Union government would be sending another 3.52 lakh doses. The State had doses for another 10 days.
Earlier in a press meet, he said Chennai’s positivity rate was 2.16% and in Coimbatore it was 2% currently whereas it was below 1.5% until last month. This should not be a cause of concern as the number of contact testing had increased, he said.
