When is the ideal time to take third booster jab of Covishield? Here's what SII chairman has to say

As more and more nations have started to approve the third booster jab of COVID vaccine amid fears of increasing variants of coronavirus, India has not yet announced anything on the same. But on Friday, the chairman of Pune's Serum Institute of India (SII), Cyrus Poonawalla said that the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, Covishield should be taken after six months and that the ideal gap between two doses of its vaccine is two months. 

Covishield is a version of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by SII in collaboration with Oxford University. Covishield is one of the first two vaccines that got the regulator's approval for emergency usage in India earlier this year.  

Cyrus Poonawalla, when asked about a report in Lancet that mentioned that antibodies against COVID by Covishield decrease after some time, said it was true, however, 'memory cells remain.'

"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," the SII chairman said, quoted news agency PTI. 

Talking about the gap between two shots, he said, "Since there was a shortage of vaccine, the Modi government changed it to three months, but a two-month gap is ideal."

Cyrus Poonwalla said implementing lockdown was not an effective way to deal with the virus, PTI quoted, as "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, people with COVID-19 died due to negligence and delay in reporting the infection to doctors.