Chairman of the Serum Institute, Cyrus Poonawalla, on Taking the Third Covishield Dose

The recommended distance between two doses of Covishield is two months, and another dose should be taken after six months, according to the chairman of the Serum Institute of India (SII), Cyrus Poonawalla.

When asked about a research in the medical journal Lancet suggesting antibodies against coronavirus developed by Covishield, the SII’s vaccine, decline with time, Mr Poonawalla said that while antibodies do drop over time, “memory cells” do not.

“After six months, the antibodies go down and that is why I have taken the third dose. We have given the third dose to our seven to eight thousand SII employees. For those who have completed the second dose, it is my request to take a booster dose (third dose) after six months,” he said.

He was speaking at a press conference after receiving the prestigious Lokmanya Tilak award.

The ideal gap between two doses of Covishield is two months, he said.

“Since there was a shortage of vaccine, the Modi government changed it to three months, but a two-month gap is ideal,” Mr Poonawalla said.

He also said that lockdown was not an effective way to deal with the virus.

“Because if there is no lockdown, the disease will be there in the beginning but later the herd immunity will prevail. Why I prefer herd immunity is because the death rate (due to coronavirus) is very low. Lockdown is a good option when the death rate is high,” he said.

In most cases deaths were caused by negligence and delay in reporting the infection to doctors, he claimed.