Midway through Covaxin clinical trial, vaccine dose 1 recipient Anil Vij tests positive

Days after Haryana's Health Minister Anil Vij was administered the trial dose of COVID vaccine, he has tested positive for the infection on Saturday. Vij was the first person in the state to be administered Bharat Biotech's Covaxin trial dose on November 20. Meanwhile, Haryana has recorded 1,602 fresh cases on Friday pushing the state's caseload to 2,40,841. 

Anil Vij tests positive

Taking to Twitter, Anil Vij on Saturday announced that he had tested positive for Coronavirus. As of now, Vij has been admitted to a civil hospital in Ambala Cantt. In addition, he has also requested people in close contact with him to get themselves tested. 

READ: Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij Gets First Dose In Covaxin Vaccine's Phase 3 Trial

Anil Vij receives COVID vaccine

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. 

"I, myself have stepped forward to take the first dose of the vaccine. I am not afraid of volunteering. In fact, I want more people to come forward so that the trials can be completed as soon as possible and the vaccine can be made available in the market soon." he said. 

It is important to note that all 4 of the vaccines that have released phase 3 trial data - Oxford, Pfizer, Moderna and Sputnik V - are 2-dose vaccines, with the second dose being administered 21 days after the first. Anil Vij received his dose 1 on November 20, so it is conceivable that he was only midway through the trial. Bharat Biotech's response to the development is awaited

COVID: Haryana Reports 19 Deaths, 1,602 New Cases

Bharat Biotech's Covaxin 

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.

India's COVID-19 tally

India has recorded 36,652 new cases in the last 24 hours, thereby taking the tally to 96,08,211. Meanwhile, 512 new deaths have pushed the death toll to 1,39,700. Total active cases in India stand at 4,09,689 and total discharged cases at 90,58,822 with 42,533 new discharges in the last 24 hrs. 

Coronavirus LIVE Updates: India Records 36,652 New Infections; Caseload Rises To 96,08,211