699: Covishield Dosage Gap: Based on Science or Vaccine Shortage?

<div>Just seven weeks after it directed state governments to increase the gap between two doses of Covishield vaccines to 6-8 weeks, on 13 May the Union Health Ministry once again announced a further extension of the gap to 12-16 weeks, citing “real-world evidence” in the United Kingdom on vaccine efficacy.<br><br>This recommendation was made by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covishield only.<br><br> </div><div>However, the decision comes at a time when the country is facing a severe shortage of vaccines, specifically Covishield which has been used to inoculate the majority of the population so far, the change in vaccine dosage policy has raised a lot of curiosity, with many many wondering if the decision is based on scientific data or is it to cover up the vaccine shortage in the country.<br><br><strong>Host and Producer: </strong>Himmat Shaligram</div><div> <strong>Guest: </strong>Dr Swapneil Parikh, a clinical researcher at Kastruba Hospital for Infectious Diseases, and Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, a vaccines, public policy and health systems expert.</div><div> <strong>Editor:</strong> Shelly Walia</div><div><br></div><div> <strong>Music:</strong> Big Bang Fuzz</div><div><br></div><div><strong>Listen to The Big Story podcast on:</strong></div><div><br></div><div>Apple: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fapple.co%2F2AYdLIl&amp;redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt8MTU3MTM4MDU5NkAxNTcxMjk0MTk2&amp;v=xkpX1V6aUFo&amp;event=video_description">https://apple.co/2AYdLIl</a> </div><div>Saavn: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2oix78C&amp;redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt8MTU3MTM4MDU5NkAxNTcxMjk0MTk2&amp;v=xkpX1V6aUFo&amp;event=video_description">http://bit.ly/2oix78C</a> </div><div>Google Podcasts: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2ntMV7S&amp;redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt8MTU3MTM4MDU5NkAxNTcxMjk0MTk2&amp;v=xkpX1V6aUFo&amp;event=video_description">http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S</a> </div><div>Spotify: <a