Harsh Vardhan takes on Rahul Gandhi for questioning govt's move to increase gap between Covishield doses

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. (PTI)Premium
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. (PTI)
1 min read . Updated: 16 Jun 2021, 07:46 PM IST Edited By Meghna Sen

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for questioning the government's decision to increase the gap between two doses of the Covishield vaccine.

"The decision to increase the interval between Covishield doses is based on transparent and scientific evidence," the health minister tweet read.

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Retweeting the Congress leader's tweet, Dr Vardhan further added, "Even scholars like Aryabhatta and Aristotle should bow down in front of Rahul Gandhi's knowledge."

The health minister also said that the agenda of spreading confusion over vaccine will no longer work.

Earlier, Gandhi had posted a tweet tagging a report that said, "The country needs immediate and complete vaccination – not the daily lies and hollow slogans of the BJP to hide the shortage of vaccines."

Gap between vaccine doses based on scientific evidence

The Centre today defended its decision to double the gap between the two doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to up to 16 weeks after three scientific advisers said there was no agreement on such a wide interval.

A report on Tuesday said the government increased the gap last month without the approval of the scientific group that it said recommended the move, citing three members of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) advisory body.

In multiple statements on Wednesday, the Central Government said the interval was increased based on scientific evidence after thorough discussions among members of NTAGI as well as its working group on Covid-19 in two meetings held last month.

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