When to get second dose of COVID vaccine? Dr Faisal Sultan issues important clarification

• Previously vaccinated individuals can get their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine any time after a minimum time interval passes, says Dr Faisal Sultan.
• For Sinopharm, the minimum interval is three weeks, says Dr Faisal Sultan.
• For Sinovac and AstraZeneca, minimum time interval is four weeks, he says.

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan has on Monday clarified that people should not wait to get their second dose of coronavirus vaccines and get jabbed any time after the minimum recommended interval between the two doses has passed.

The prime minister's aide took to Twitter on Monday to say that people should not be waiting for a reminder SMS from 1166 to get their second dose.

For convenience, he also tweeted the minimum interval you need between doses for the Sinopharm, Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines.

"COVID vaccination — 2nd dose info. You can get 2nd dose of the vaccine ANYTIME after the minimum time interval has elapsed," he tweeted.

"Sinopharm - 3 weeks, Sinovac & Astrazeneca - 4 weeks. Don't need to wait for a reminder SMS from 1166 (comes after 6 weeks for Sinopharm and Sinovac, and 12 weeks for AstraZeneca)."

NCOC issues important clarification on Sinopharm vaccine

Earlier, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) had also issued an important clarification regarding fake news on the Sinopharm vaccine which had been doing the rounds on social media over the past couple of days.

The social media post, which included an image with a Government of Pakistan logo, falsely listed several conditions in which the Sinopharm vaccine should not be administered to people. 

The post had falsely claimed that lactating and pregnant women, patients with heart disease, individuals undergoing chemotherapy or who have received a transplant, as well as several others, should not get the Sinopharm vaccine.

Strongly dismissing the post, the NCOC rubbished it as containing "wrong and misleading information".

"For authentic and updated guidelines on vaccines, please visit https://covid.gov.pk/guideline," the NCOC added.