The Kerala High Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to explain why there is a gap of 84 days for second dose of Covishield vaccine. The Court asked the Centre whether the 84-day gap between two doses of Covishield was based on the availability of the vaccine or its efficacy. The court also asked if it was possible to reduce the time gap if vaccines are sourced by parties themselves.

The court made this remark when hearing a petition filed by the Kitex group of companies which pointed out that initially the time frame for taking the second dose of Covishield was 45 days.

The court asked whether the time gap was extended because it had better efficacy or was it because of the problems in sourcing vaccines in time. The court said if availability was the reason for the gap, then those who can afford to buy it, like Kitex has, should be permitted to take the second dose without waiting for 84 days as per the prevailing protocol. The Centre has been asked by the court to give its affidavit on these issues and posted the case for Thursday.

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