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The Union Ministry of Health on May 16, 2021, announced that the requisite changes have been done in the Co-WIN digital portal due to which further online or on-site appointments for the 2nd dose of Covishield vaccine will not be possible, in case the period after the first dose date for the beneficiary is less than 84 days.
The Ministry, however, clarified that the already booked online appointments for the 2nd dose of Covishield will remain valid and that the same will not be cancelled on the Co-WIN platform.
The Central Government on May 13, 2021, had decided to extend the gap between the two doses of Covishield to 12-16 weeks. The decision was taken based on the recommendations by the COVID Working Group.
➡️ #CoWIN digital Portal Reconfigured to Reflect Change in Dose Interval of #Covishield Vaccine to 12-16 weeks.
➡️ Already Booked Online appointments for 2nd Covishield Dose will remain Valid.https://t.co/fue31c2uEI pic.twitter.com/eJXEF7i1Gw
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA)
May 16, 2021
Centre communicates the change to States and UTs:
The Health Ministry informed that the Government has communicated about this change to the States and UTs. The Ministry added that Co-WIN digital portal has also been reconfigured to reflect this extension of the interval between the two doses of Covishield vaccine to 12-16 weeks.
Already book appointments for 2nd dose to remain valid:
While commenting on the reports suggesting that the individuals who have already booked their appointments for the second dose in less than 84 days are being returned back from the Centre, the Ministry assured that the already booked online appointments for the second dose will remain valid and will not be cancelled by Co-WIN.
The Ministry has advised the State and UTs governments that the field staff must be instructed, that if such beneficiaries do arrive for the vaccination at the center, the second dose of the vaccine must be administered and the individual must not be turned away.
Further, the beneficiaries have been advised to reschedule their appointments for a later date beyond the 84th day from the first dose of the vaccination.
States/UTs to aware citizens about this change:
The Central Government has already reiterated to the governments of States and UTs that the online appointments booked for the 2nd dose of Covishield vaccine prior to this change of the interval between the two doses of vaccine, must be honoured.
However, in order to avoid any form of confusion and to make the beneficiaries understand that the fresh appointment for 2nd dose will only be after 84 days of when the first dose was administered, the States and UTs have been asked to undertake the awareness activities in order to inform the beneficiaries about this change.
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