Tens of millions of Indian adults are unlikely to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of 2021, despite ample supplies, due to an unusually large gap between the doses of the most widely used vaccine and growing complacency as cases fall, Reuters reports.

The locally produced AstraZeneca vaccine which is known as Covishield has a 12- to 16-week gap between doses, in contrast to the 8- to 12-week gap recommended by the World Health Organisation.

Based on current trends, the Covishield dosage gap means more than 200 million people will be eligible for their second dose only in late January even if all of them were to get their first shot on Friday.

Read more from Reuters here

Opinion

Editorial

Risks ahead
Updated 02 Oct, 2026

Risks ahead

To think that the government would rather push out an elected government than grant a single prisoner some facilities does not square up rationally.
Exit from Iraq
02 Oct, 2026

Exit from Iraq

AMERICAN and British troops have once again shipped out of Iraq. On Wednesday, the foreign forces left the Arab...
Lahore’s ozone warning
02 Oct, 2026

Lahore’s ozone warning

LAHORE has received another warning that its air pollution crisis cannot be treated as a problem that begins with...
Fixing bond markets
Updated 01 Oct, 2026

Fixing bond markets

Pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, retail investors, and eventually, foreign investors must become bigger participants in the market.
Call centre rackets
01 Oct, 2026

Call centre rackets

A NUMBER of recent raids conducted by the authorities in different cities point to the growing threat fraudulent ...
Homeward bound
01 Oct, 2026

Homeward bound

FIVE months after Somali pirates captured an oil tanker carrying a 19-member multinational crew, Somali maritime...