Anil Vij issues statement after testing COVID positive amid Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN trial

Issuing a statement after testing positive, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij on Sunday said that Bharat Biotech and doctors had told him that antibodies will be produced only after14 days of taking the second dose of the vaccine. As a trial dose of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin was administered to Vij, fears about the vaccine's efficacy arose after he tested positive. However, he has clarified that he is being treated at the Civil hospital and he is feeling well. 

Anil Vij on Saturday tested positive for the Coronavirus days after he was administered the trial dosage of Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine. Vij was the first person in Haryana to receive the trial dose of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. Vij informed about the news on Twitter and said that he is admitted to a civil hospital in Ambala Cantt. In addition, he also requested people in close contact with him to get themselves tested. 

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Bharat Biotech's statement

Few hours after he tested positive, Bharat Biotech issued a statement. The vaccine manufacturer stated that Covaxin clinical trials include the subject being administered two doses given 28 days apart. They added that the vaccine's efficacy can only be determined 14 days after the subjects are given the second dose and that Covaxin has been developed to be effective only after both doses are provided to the subject. Moreover, they have also stated that 50 per cent of the subjects who are a part of the phase-3 trial receive the COVID-19 vaccine while rest of them receive a placebo. 

Covaxin is a COVID-19 vaccine that is being developed indigenously by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Bharat Biotech had successfully completed the first two trials of the vaccine and announced that the final trial would involve 26,000 volunteers across 25 centers in India.

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Anil Vij administered a trial dose of Covaxin

The Health Minister was administered the first trial dose of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin at Civil Hospital in Ambala Cantt as a part of Phase 3 trial of the vaccine. The dosage was given under expert supervision by a team of doctors from the PGI Rohtak and the Health Department. Vij had volunteered to take the trial dosage of Covaxin. Following his announcement, Vij had also urged people to volunteer for the vaccine's final trials. 

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