Anil Vij, Haryana Health Minister Who Got Trial Dose of Covid-19 Vaccine, Tests Positive

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Haryana health minister Anil Vij had in November tweeted that he will be the first volunteer in his state for the anti-Covid vaccine, following which he was given Covaxin shots.

Chandigarh: Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij, who was administered a trial dose of a coronavirus vaccine recently, tested positive for Covid-19 and has been admitted to a hospital. Vij (67), who is also the state's home minister, urged all those who had come in contact with him recently to get tested.

"I have been tested Corona positive. I am admitted in Civil Hospital Ambala Cantt. All those who have come in close contact to me are advised to get themselves tested for corona (sic)," he tweeted. Vij is a senior leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and is a legislator from Ambala Cantt assembly constituency.

The health minister had in November tweeted that he will be the first volunteer in his state for the anti-Covid vaccine, following which he was given Covaxin shots.

#WATCH Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij being administered a trial dose of #Covaxin, at a hospital in Ambala. He had offered to be the first volunteer for the third phase trial of Covaxin, which started in the state today. pic.twitter.com/xKuXWLeFAB
— ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2020

The minister, however, had received only one shot of the vaccine, while Covaxin needs “specific number of days to be passed after the second dose” for the anti-bodies to build up.

“The anti-bodies against the infection build up in a human being only after a specific number of days pass after the second dose of the vaccine is taken. Since this is a two dose vaccine. Minister in question has taken only one dose of the vaccine,” the health ministry added.

“COVAXIN™️ has been designed to be efficacious when subjects receive both doses and post the 14 day period after the 2nd dose,” Bharat Biotech said in a statement.

Bharat Biotech had announced the commencement of Phase III trials of Covaxin, involving 26,000 volunteers across India. The trials will be conducted in partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and will be the largest clinical trial conducted for a COVID-19 vaccine in India, according to news agency ANI. The trial has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India.

Covaxin has been evaluated in about 1,000 subjects in Phase I and Phase II clinical trials, with promising safety and immunogenicity data.

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