First Jab Of Covishield Triggers Good Level Of Antibodies: ICMR

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New Delhi: With the first dose of Covishield vaccine enough level of antibodies gets produced in the body whereas an adequate immune response gets triggered after the second dose of Covaxin, said Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Balram Bhargava.

The decision to extend the gap between two doses of Covishield was based on the observations made by Covid Working Group, National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) and National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, added Bhargava.

Currently, the vaccination gap between two doses of Covaxin is four to six weeks. However, the government has recently extended the gap for Covishield to 12-16 weeks from six to eight weeks.

As a result, Bharat Biotech, manufacturers of Covaxin is in the process of starting production in facilities at Kolar, Karnataka and Manjari near Pune, apart from Hyderabad.

Bhargava also said that the government has aimed to conduct 25 lakh tests by the end of May and 45 lakh tests by June.

He advised the people to go for more rapid antigen tests so that the spread can be prevented by adopting measures such as isolation.

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