The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) has recently suggested lessening the time interval between the first and second dose of Covishield and dropping it down to 8-16 weeks, instead of the present 12-16 weeks period. NTAGI is a top panel for vaccination advisory set up by the government in the wake of the covid waves happening in the country and all around the world.
The Central government also plans to discuss the expansion of booster dose drive as the third dose has shown to give significant protection to adults against the current Omicron. With booster doses on the way, the government has given the new covid variant Omicron another great push by pulling the distance between the two Covishield doses closer.
This decision of the Centre will be welcomed warmly now that there are reports of new strains being found in parts of China and other foreign countries. Currently, around 80% of Indians have been vaccinated with both doses of covid jab, whereas approximately 90% of the Indian population has been administered with the first jab. This data is for the adult population of 18+ years. The government has also started vaccinating teenagers from the age group 12-14 and 15-17, in separate vaccination drives.
In between all this, India's fight against covid has given some fruitful news to the nation as there has been a reported fall of 40% covid cases in the last one week (till 19 March 2022) within the country. On 20 March, the country was faced with the lowest number of covid cases to be reported ever since the arrival of the pandemic (April 2020). This is the eighth week in succession when the land of snake charmers has seen declining covid rates.
The government is now working on providing booster doses to the general public, especially after the WHO circular. The organization has also keenly recommended the need for booster doses in the masses. At present, 60+ age adults are eligible to receive booster doses in the nation and the recommendation of NTAGI will soon be implemented by the start of next month.