Chandigarh: More than 15 days after he was administered a trial dose of Covid-19 vaccine candidate Covaxin, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij Saturday said he has tested positive for coronavirus.
“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 said in a tweet.
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.
— ANIL VIJ MINISTER HARYANA (@anilvijminister) December 5, 2020
Vij had volunteered to participate in the Phase 3 trials of Covaxin — India’s first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine candidate — at the Post Graduate Institute (PGI) of Medical Science, Rohtak.
On 20 November, Vij, who is also Haryana’s home minister, was administered the vaccine at the Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantt. After receiving the dose, Vij had said he was “fit and fine”. The BJP leader is the first politician in India to participate in the Covid-19 vaccine trials.
ThePrint reached Rajeev Arora, additional chief secretary and principal secretary health Haryana, for a comment on Vij’s health. Arora said, “A statement will be shortly issued by PGI Rohtak vice chancellor.”
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Covaxin trials in India
Vij is among 200 volunteers who were to be administered two intramuscular doses, approximately 28 days apart, at PGI Rohtak. PGI Rohtak is among 25 facilities in India where Phase 3 trials of Covaxin are currently on.
These are the first and largest efficacy trials being conducted for a Covid vaccine in India.
In a press statement issued 16 November, Bharat Biotech had said: “Trial volunteers will be randomly assigned to receive Covaxin or placebo. The trial is double blinded, such that the investigators, the participants and the company will not be aware of who is assigned to which group,” a statement said.
The possibility of Vij having received the placebo shot cannot be ruled out.
An official of the health ministry, however, said that “the antibodies 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. The minister in question has taken only one dose of the vaccine.”
Covaxin is being developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Pune-based National Institute of Virology. On 28 November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the Bharat Biotech campus to review vaccine development work.
Without mentioning Vij, Bharat Biotech in a statement, said: “COVAXIN clinical trials are based on a 2 dose schedule, given 28 days apart. The vaccine efficacy will be determined 14 days post the 2nd dose. COVAXIN has been designed to be efficacious when subjects receive both doses and post the 14 day period after the 2nd dose. The phase 3 trials are double blinded and randomized, where 50% of subjects will receive vaccine and 50% of subjects will receive placebo…Bharat Biotech in its 20 year history, has conducted more than 80 clinical trials, across 18 countries, in 600,000 subjects. The same reporting procedure is followed for all clinical trials. All clinical trials are conducted in compliance with Good clinical practices.”
Vij met Baba Ramdev at his residence in Ambala on December 1 following a meeting of the Yog Parishad.
He also met a delegation led by JJP leaders, including state chief Nishan Singh and JJP youth wing head Digvijay Chautala, Friday. The meeting lasted for about an hour.
A six-time MLA from Ambala Cantonment, Vij has been at the forefront of the Covid battle in Haryana.
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