Anil Vij has been admitted to a hospital and urged all those who had come in contact with him recently to get tested.
PTI
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij, who was administered the trial dose of the indigenous COVID vaccine Covaxin last month, has tested positive for coronavirus, he said in a tweet on Saturday. Vij has been admitted to a hospital and 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)," tweeted Vij, who is also the state's home minister. Anil Vij had volunteered to be a part of clincal trials of Covaxin, a potential vaccine against COVID-19, and was administered the dose on November 20 at the Civil Hospital at Ambala Cantt. It is not known yet whether the minister was administered the vaccine or the placebo shot (a placebo is a shot that looks identical to the treatment administered in a clinical trial, but isn't.) A three-member delegation of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), the BJP's coalition partner in Haryana, had met Vij on Friday and sought withdrawal of cases registered in the state against farmers participating in the 'Delhi Chalo' march against the Centre's farm laws. The delegation was led by JJP's state unit chief Nishan Singh and senior party leader Digvijay Singh Chautala was also a part of it. Yoga guru Ramdev too had met Vij on Tuesday. The 67-year-old is a senior leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a legislator from Ambala Cantt assembly constituency. He had offered to be the first volunteer in the phase three trials for Covaxin. "I will be administered a trial dose of Coronavirus vaccine #Covaxin a Bharat Biotech product Tomorrow at 11 am at Civil hospital, Ambala Cantt under the expert supervision of a team of doctors from PGI Rohtak and Health Department, Vij had said in a tweet. "I have volunteered to take the trial dose," he had added. #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 Covaxin is being developed indigenously by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Bharat Biotech is expected to release a scientific response on the development later on Saturday. It is essential to remember that Covaxin is a still a vaccine candidate and even if a vaccine is rolled out in India, the vaccine may not mean you are immune from getting infected by the coronavirus, and so citizens will need to keep taking precautions like physical distancing, washing hands, and wearing masks. Dr Shahid Jameel, a virologist and the Director of the Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University, had earlier told TNM, “Most successful vaccines only prevent disease, they don’t prevent infection. And so will be the case with the COVID vaccine. If the natural infection doesn’t give you long-lasting immunity, a vaccine isn’t going to give you long-lasting immunity. This is becoming very clear from COVID, we won’t get long-lasting immunity.” Also read: COVID-19 vaccine may be ready in a few weeks, will wait for experts' nod: PM Modi With PTI inputs
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