Govt in a funk after 5 docs test Covid-positive post vaccination

The question plaguing the health department is whether the 5 doctors were asymptomatic for the disease before they were vaccinated. That would be impossible to prove now as, in the absence of symptoms, the question of testing would not have arisen and they would have been leading a normal life like anyone else before they were vaccinated.

All 5 doctors, of whom 2 were engaged in clinical work, have been admitted in the local district hospital. All of them had been vaccinated — 2 with Covishield and 3 with Covaxin — on January 18. They reportedly developed sympoms of the infection later and on getting tested at the hospital were found Covid-positive on January 25, 26, 27 and 28.

Docs under watch

Speaking to TheBengaluruLive, Chamarajanagar district health officer Dr Ravi confirmed the development and said that all 5 doctors had been admitted in the district hospital and were being closely monitored.

Replying to a query, Dr Ravi said the doctors might have come in contact with Covid-19 earlier but might have been asymptomatic and hence were not aware of being infected. “There are chances that they would have got a mild infection after the vaccination and after getting tested they were shown to be Covid-positive. But we cannot say that they tested positive after taking the vaccination,” he said, adding that individual reactions to vaccination can vary.

Minister stresses dosage cycle

Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar tweeted on Saturday that there are chances of people getting infected despite vaccination as it needs to complete the entire dosage cycle.

He tweeted, “The second dose should be received 28 days after the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, (and immunity builds) 14-15 days after the second dose; i.e., approximately 45 days after the first dose. In the meantime, a person who is vaccinated may become infected if he comes in contact with the virus.”