The Union Government is trying to find out the probabilities of administering just one single dose of Covishield instead of 2 doses. If just one dose of Covishield is given, a wider base of population will be inoculated in much lesser time.

It may be noted that Covishield vaccine has been developed jointly by British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca and Oxford University. Serum Institute of India is manufacturing it here in India.

The government is now planning to study if the vaccine can be administered in one single dose instead of 2 doses. Apart from this the mixing of 2 doses is also being considered.

NK Arora, chairman of the COVID-19 working group under the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI), said it was being deliberated upon whether a single shot will provide enough protection. "We are evaluating how effective is a single shot of Covishield. All these vaccines, Johnson and Johnson, Sputnik Light, Covishield are based on the same principle." Sputnik V Light and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccines are also administered in a single dose.

(inputs from TNN)