France’s leading health advisory body, the Haute Autorite de Sante (HAS), recommended on Saturday (January 23) that the interval between the administration of the first and second sightings of the vaccine against the novel coronavirus be doubled, media reports.
France has started its vaccination with the elderly and health care workers, and under the current protocol, there is a gap of three weeks between the two views for people in retirement homes, and four weeks for health care workers.
Authorities now want the gap to be widened to six weeks.
How will increasing the gap between the doses help?
It seems that the priority of the French authorities is to circulate as many individuals as possible.
The HAS has said that the gap between first and second sightings would allow at least 7 lakh more people to be vaccinated in the first month of the inoculation program, Reuters reported.
France uses both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
“The growing number of diseases and alarming new incomes call for an acceleration of the vaccination campaign to prevent the disease from spinning in the coming weeks,” the HAS said. in a statement, according to a Reuters report.
So is there a shortage of vaccines in France?
Shortages have been reported in several countries. The advice of HAS – an independent body whose proposals are not government-linked – is proposing a policy debate in France on how best to use scarce materials.
The New York Times reported a similar shortage in the United States, citing examples from states including Texas, South Carolina, and California.
“Suddenly, the spread of vaccines has stopped,” said Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, chief executive of the Harris Health System in Houston, which runs hospitals and clinics in Harris County, Texas.
“It is sad and unfortunate because I hear that high percentages of vaccines have been dispensed but not given,” the report said.
The New York Times report gave examples of vaccine shortages in various parts of the United States.
In Beaufort, South Carolina, a hospital had to lay off 6,000 jobs after receiving just 450 doses of the vaccine, the report said. In Maui, Hawaii, a hospital had to cancel 5,000 first-dose jobs and 15,000 requests for appointments. San Francisco’s public health department feared it would run out of vaccines after its supply suddenly collapsed, and in New York State’s Erie County, “thousands” of vaccination meetings were canceled in the a few days ago, an NYT report said.
But can’t just one picture of the vaccine do the trick?
No. The three main vaccines, manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Oxford-AstraZeneca, require two doses to be able to extend full protection.
As part of its advice, HAS France reaffirmed that it was essential that everyone get a second look, a Reuters report said.
The World Health Organization said this month that two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine should be given within 21-28 days.
Can widening the gap between the doses affect efficacy?
Several countries are considering ways to extend scarce supply by delaying dosing times or reducing dose volumes, a Reuters report said.
Pfizer-BioNTech has stated that there is no evidence that the vaccine would continue to protect against the novel coronavirus if a second dose is given more than 21 days after the first.
In the UK, regulators have said views can be given up to 12 weeks apart – however, a group of British doctors has written to England’s chief medical officer to close the gap between doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. cut to six weeks, the Reuters report said.
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Does India have enough supply of vaccine?
As of now, yes. Indeed, India’s current concern is a level of vaccine confidence, which has manifested itself in some reliance on building the sights.
The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, which manufactures the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for India and several other licensed countries, has confirmed its -again there will be no shortage of doses of Covishield.
In addition, Covaxin Bharat Biotech’s supply is likely to pick up speed soon. The government has made several vaccines available to the people of India before the summer.