pune dr n k arora chairman covid19 working group of the national technical advisory group on immunisation ntagi on saturday ruled out any changes in the gap between two doses of covishield citing scientific studies suggesting the vaccines higher efficacy when the interval between the shots was longerany further changes would be based only on scientific evidence and not on random demands arora told toi on saturday stressing that the current interval had been working wellseveral states including kerala karnataka and maharashtra are keen to reduce the gap between the two doses of covishield from the current 84 daysarora said data from the vaccine tracker platform indicated that the way the covishield doses were currently being administered was fine therefore there was no need to change it as of now he said adding that the vaccines effectiveness in the current interval was being monitored constantlyvirologist t jacob john differed a bit he told toi the covishield doses gap could be reduced to four weeks for individuals at high risk and senior citizens they authorities should at least think about it he said explaining his thought the retired professor and the head of department of clinical virology and microbiology of christian medical college vellore said if someone wants early immunity give the second dose at four weeks but if you want the maximum possible immunity wait for 84 days two doses save lives so for individuals at high risk of severe disease and death four weeks interval is the best for them protection delayed could mean protection denied for all others between 18 and 60 years the 84day interval is logicaldr anish t s associate professor at government medical college thiruvananthapuram also said a shorter gap could be considered for vulnerable groups such as senior citizens and people with comorbidities the effectiveness of a single dose may not be sufficient to protect them from clinically severe diseases in the context of the delta variant he saiddr m k sudarshan chairman of the karnataka government covid19 technical advisory committee told toi they had recommended that the karnataka health minister reduce the time gap of covishield doses to about six weeks because there were sufficient vaccines but not enough second dose takers there is enough scientific evidence that one to two months gap is efficacious he saiddr rajeev jayadevan member national indian medical task force on corona epidemic told toi a longer gap was better for longterm protection at present it is best to have a longer gap to protect people from severe disease he addedno vax for children before schools open parents teachers need jabsthere was no need to vaccinate children for reopening schools said ntagi task force chairman dr n k arora on saturday what is important is to vaccinate parents teachers and school staffers before the resumption of physical classes he saidvaccination of healthy children would commence next year but the immunization of kids with comorbidities would start next month dr arora said he said they were finalising the list