New Delhi
The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to entertain a PIL seeking reduction of interval gap between two doses of Covid vaccine Covishield citing the threat of third wave and Delta variant. Division Bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh said, "Many advisers come here every day without having proper knowledge.”
“We are not inclined to hear you," Justice DN Patel said to the lawyer of the petitioner.
Petitioner Dr Siddhartha De through Advocate Kuldeep Jauhari submitted that the court should pass direction to respondents to consider the reduction of Covid-19 vaccine interval for people who have co-morbidities as the Delta variant is already here.
Lawyer also submits that the threat for the third wave is also here.
The lawyer cited various studies from the UK and also of Indian scientists to show that reduction of the gap would increase the efficacy of the vaccine.
Recently, government sources have clarified that there is no need to change the current dosage interval of the Covishield vaccine in India after concerns were raised by various experts.
In May, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) recommended an increase in the gap between two doses of Serum Institute of India's COVISHIELD to 12-16 weeks.
