French HTA Body Backs Routine Six-Week Interval In COVID-19 Vaccine Dosing

UK Expert Defends 12-Week Delay

France's health technology assessment body says that delaying by six weeks the second dose of the two mRNA vaccines approved for use against COVID-19 would allow at least 700,000 more people to receive their jab in the first month.

Many people shaped as question mark, vaccine bottles and syringes on wooden background. Questions about vaccination concept.
Questions remain over COVID-19 vaccine dosage intervals • Source: Shutterstock

The interval between the first and second doses of the two authorized mRNA COVID-19 vaccines should routinely be extended to six weeks to allow the greatest number of people at risk of hospitalization or death to receive their first dose, according to the French health technology assessment body, the HAS.

With the continuing rise in coronavirus infections and “the worrying arrival of new variants” of the virus, it is vital to speed up vaccinations to “tackle the risk of an...

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