Was told that antibodies will develop after 42 days of vaccination: Vij

Ambala civil surgeon Dr Kuldeep Singh on Sunday said that Vij is stable and showed no symptoms

Haryana health minister Anil Vij, who is in isolation after testing positive for Covid, issued a statement on Sunday to clear the confusion over the vaccine he was administered nearly two weeks ago.

Taking to Twitter, Vij said, “Before giving me Covaxin, the doctors had told me that antibodies will develop only after 14 days of the second dose that will be given after 28 days of the first dose. Despite taking every precaution, I got infected. I’m being treated at the civil hospital and I’m feeling better... It’s been only 14 days that I was given the vaccine.”

Vij also condemned the news published in a Hindi daily that he didn’t follow safety protocols. “...this is wrong. I was admitted to the civil hospital nearly 30 minutes after I tested positive,” he wrote on Twitter.

In another tweet, he said he got himself tested in Chandigarh, report of which came out negative, two days after he had met Panipat (City) MLA Pramod Vij, who was found infected after their meeting.

Ambala civil surgeon Dr Kuldeep Singh on Sunday said that Vij is stable and there are no symptoms now.

On being asked about the second dose of vaccine, he said, “Doctors from PGIMS, Rohtak, had visited the minister Saturday night. He will not get the second dose of the vaccine as it is not administered after a patient tests positive. He is feeling better than yesterday and doesn’t have fever now.”

With questions being raised on the efficacy of Covaxin, an indigenous vaccine for coronavirus developed by Bharat Biotech, the manufacturer had issued a statement on Saturday stating that “the third phase trial is a double-blind study where the volunteers have a 50% chance of receiving either a vaccine or placebo”.

Medical camps at Haryana borders for farmers

Vij on Sunday said the health department will set up health camps at the farmers’ protesting sites.

“The Haryana health department will set up medical camps everywhere in Haryana where the farmers are agitating. Doctors, ambulances and medicines will be available at the camps,” he said.