Editor’s Pick: The Covishield gap

The Hindu Newsletter - The Hindu Newsletter - Editor's Pick [The Hindu Logo]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( Tuesday 23, March 2021 [alt_text]( Editor's Pick The Covishield gap [alt_text]( (The Editor's Pick is a new newsletter from The Hindu that provides a snapshot of the most important stories from today's edition of our newspaper, along with a note from our top editors on why we chose to give prominence to these stories.) The Centre has written to States/UTs to increase the [interval between two doses of Covishield](to 4 to 8 weeks, stating that there is evidence of increased protection if the second dose of Covishield is administered between 6 to 8 weeks after the first dose. [Covishield](, by some margin, continues to be the most used vaccine in India. Over 92% of all doses administered in the country until March 20 was Covishield with the remaining being the Bharat Biotech- produced [Covaxin](. This move by the Centre to increase the interval between doses of the vaccine follows the publication of data from some global trials in other countries which found that the efficacy of the vaccine increased when the second dose was given more than six weeks after the first. Efficacy in this case being its ability to bring down cases of symptomatic COVID-19 in those inoculated as against those who are not. One study in the Lancet journal found that the efficacy of the vaccine increased even further when the two doses were administered 12 weeks apart. It is pertinent to note however, that the vaccine’s manufacturer [AstraZeneca reported findings from trials in the US](, Peru and Chile on Monday which showed that the vaccine had an efficacy of around 79% even when the second dose was given four weeks after the first dose. This is a significant jump over the vaccine’s efficacy reported in the earlier trial conducted in the U.K, Brazil and South Africa. More importantly, the vaccine was shown to be 100% effective against severe, or critical symptomatic COVID-19. The government’s decision followed a meeting of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC), which in turn took up recommendations from the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, which had revisited the time gap between the two doses. The government said that keeping the existing scientific evidence in view, it appears that protection is enhanced if the second dose of Covishield is administered between 6-8 weeks, but not later than the stipulated period of 8 weeks. In view of the [recent rise in COVID-19 cases](, any move to change the strategy behind the administration of the most commonly available vaccine to the population assumes crucial importance. That marks this story out as our top pick of the day. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. [Click here]( Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz Which State announced pay revision for its staff on Sunday? 1. Andhra Pradesh 2. Telangana 3. Karnataka 4. Kerala To find out the answer and play the full quiz, [click here]( The Big Story [Centre tells States to increase interval between Covishield doses]( [alt_text]( From the Front Page [alt_text]( [National Film Awards | Kangana, Dhanush bag top honours]( [alt_text]( [Four LeT militants killed in Shopian encounter, says IGP]( From the Opinion Pages [alt_text]( [Delhi’s administration as the tail wagging the dog]( [alt_text]( [Getting it right on the LAC disengagement]( Today's Editorials [Free and open: on U.S. Defence S](ecretary's visit [The way forward: on Myanmar's po](litical situation You are receiving this email because you are a user of [thehindu.com]( If you do not wish to receive any such emails, [unsubscribe here.](mailto:rm-0bfazcs3bf2f90kaup33rtbysa8hk97@newsalert.thehindu.com?subject=Unsubscribe&body=You will be unsubscribed from our mailing list.) To ensure you continue to receive emails from The Hindu in your inbox, please add newsletters.th@newsalert.thehindu.com to your contact. If you can't see the mailer, please [click here.]( Group Sites [The Hindu]( | [இந்து தமிழ் திசை]( | [Business Line]( | [BL on Campus]( | [Sportstar]( | [Frontline]( | [The Hindu Centre]( | [Images]( | [roofandfloor]( | [Classifieds]( Copyright @ 2021 ,THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. [About Us]( | [Contact Us]( | [Digital Subscription](