4 docs vaccinated with Covaxin, Covishield +ve

In a strange development, 5 doctors in Chamarajanagar district in Karnataka have tested positive for Covid-19 a week after they got the first shot of the vaccine.

Experts immediately stepped in to allay fears about the efficacy of the vaccine. Health authorities said contracting Covid after the first shot is not new and does not mean the vaccine is ineffective. The real effect can be seen only after the second shot, experts said.

Health authorities underlined the need to practice precautions like wearing masks, hand washing and avoiding crowded areas. Those who have received both shots of the vaccine should follow all precautions until a significant percentage of the population has been vaccinated, authorities said.

“All the five doctors are attached to the district hospital and the government medical college here. They are in the 40-50 age group and have mild symptoms. Of them, some took Covishield while others got Covaxin last week,” Dr MC Ravi, District Health Officer, Chamrajanagara, was quoted.

“It is highly likely their incubation period of catching the virus had started before they took the vaccine. They were tested only after they

started showing symptoms. This issue is not related to vaccination and we are tracing contacts of these doctors,” he said.

The vaccine first dose induces immunity partially only about 2 weeks later, and that too is yet to be defined well due to lack of experience. Partial immune response will mean a serious disease will be rendered

milder. But here, the 2 week was not available. It is only 5-10 days after the second dose the efficacy for the vaccine is in the 60-70% range, experts said.

In this case, it means they were probably infected before, or on the day they were given the vaccine. This is because the incubation period is 5-10 days and sometimes up to 14 days.