The government has accepted the Covid-19 Working Group's recommendation for extending the gap between the two doses of the Covishield vaccine from 6-8 weeks to 12-16 weeks, the Union health ministry said, while announcing the extension on Thursday.

Initially, the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) had permitted the second dose of Covishield to be administered 4-6 weeks after the first, and Covaxin’s second dose was supposed to be given 28 days after the first. Subsequently, this interval was extended to 4-8 weeks for Covishield and 4-6 weeks for Covaxin. In April, Centre advised that the second Covishield dose could be taken 6-8 weeks after the first. No change for Covaxin's gap for second dose has been suggested since.