Principal Investigator of AstraZeneca Clinical Trial, Dr Andrew Pollard said that Britain had reduced the gap of two doses at a time when a large part of its population had been vaccinated.
British pharma company AstraZeneca has also supported the government’s decision to increase the gap between the two doses of Corona Vaccine Covishield in the country. AstraZenca-Oxford has developed the formula for this vaccine, while Serum Institute is manufacturing it in India under the name Covishield. The principal investigator of the AstraZenca clinical trial, Prof. Andrew Pollard said on Friday that the vaccine provides more protection in the second and third months after a single dose, i.e. its level of protection increases even more. In such a situation, there is no shortcoming in the decision to increase the dose gap.
In an interview on Friday, Pollard spoke about reducing the gap between the two doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK and increasing it in India. He said that Britain had reduced the gap of two doses at a time when a large part of its population had been vaccinated.
Pollard, a pediatrician and professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases at Oxford University in the UK, said AstraZeneca is not effective in a single-dose vaccine. The company is working even on booster dose. He said that in the event of a shortage of vaccines, instead of better protection for a small number of people, efforts should be made to ensure safety measures for as many people as possible.
Decision taken on scientific basis
Earlier, the Chief of the Covid Working Group, Dr. NK Arora had also said that the decision was correct and on the basis of scientific evidence. In the midst of the ongoing debate after the difference of two doses of Covishield was increased, he had said that a single dose of this vaccine is effective against the delta variant of Coronavirus upto 61%. According to scientists, due to this variant, the second wave in the country turned fatal. On the matter of reducing the gap between both the doses, he said that as new data becomes available, the company will review it and take the right decision.
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