Doctor, staff nurse positive even after vaccine course; 5 such cases in Punjab

The state now has five such cases, as three similar instances were reported earlier this month, one each from Ludhiana, Sangrur and Mohali districts

Amritsar Two more people have tested coronavirus (covid-19) positive in Punjab, days after they were given the second dose of anti-covid vaccine, state health officials said on Tuesday. The vaccine course is of two doses. The state now has five such cases, as three similar instances were reported earlier this month, one each from Ludhiana, Sangrur and Mohali districts.

Health experts said the vaccine was meant to decrease the severity of the disease and reduce fatalities. (HT PHOTO)

The two fresh cases are a doctor from Sangrur and a staff nurse from Mohali. They had completed the required period of 14 days, for antibodies to develop after the second dose.

“An anaesthesiologist at one of the district hospitals tested positive for covid-19 after getting both doses of Covishield. The severity of the infection was low. The husband of the doctor was not vaccinated and had tested positive. This doctor came in his direct contact due to which she caught the infection even after vaccination,” Sangrur civil surgeon Dr Anjana Gupta said.

Mohali civil surgeon Dr Adarshpal Kaur said, “A staff nurse has tested positive for covid-19, 15 days after she was administered the second dose of Covishield. Her severity of infection was low as she had been vaccinated.”

In addition, seven cases have been reported in the state where beneficiaries tested positive after they had been administered the vaccine’s first dose.

Health experts said the vaccine was meant to decrease the severity of the disease and reduce fatalities and twelve people testing positive was not a significant number.

FIVE RE-INFECTION CASES

Five persons, who had tested positive for covid-19 during last year but had recovered, have caught the infection again. “Five cases of re-infections have surfaced, one each from Mohali, Hoshiarpur, Bathinda, Sangrur and Patiala. Many people did not develop antibodies even after they had recovered. Such people can again catch the virus. Of these five cases, we checked for antibodies in the Bathinda patient, but these were not developed. Low severity of the disease was seen in re-infection cases,” said state nodal officer for covid-19, Dr Rajesh Bhaskar.