Accepting the new recommendations of NEGVAC, the union government on Wednesday has deferred the coronavirus vaccination by three months after the recovery from the illness. 

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In its recommendation, the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC) had advised to give a gap of at least three months between the time the patient being cured of the virus and the vaccination. 

The union home ministry, in a statement, said, “Persons with any other serious illness requiring hospitalization or ICU care to also wait for 4-8 weeks before getting the vaccine.” 

The central government has recently also increased the time-frame between two doses to 12-16 weeks from 8-6 weeks earlier. 

The ministry in its statement also said that if infected after the first dose, the second dose will be deferred by three months after clinical recovery from Covid-19. 

This three months’ gap is also for those Covid-19 patients who have been given convalescent plasma, from the date of discharge from the hospital. 

Similarly, it also said, the persons with any other serious general illness requiring hospitalization or ICU care should also wait for 4-8 weeks before getting the Covid-19 vaccine. 

Recommendations that are accepted also states that an individual can donate blood after 14 days of either receipt of COVID-19 vaccine or testing RT-PCR negative, if suffering from COVID-19 disease. 

COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for all lactating women. And, there is no requirement for screening of the vaccine recipients by rapid antigen test (RAT) prior to COVID-19 vaccination, said the government in a statement while accepting the recommendations. 

Regarding COVID-19 Vaccination of pregnant women, the matter is under discussion and further deliberation by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI), it added. 

According to the statement, the government has communicated the same with all states and Union Territories. And, these recommendations have been based on the evolving situation of the COVID-19 pandemic and emerging global scientific evidence and experience.