Odisha doctor tests Covid-19 after vaccination and checks for negative

S Suleiman, who worked at Rourkela Government Hospital, was found healthy on Covid-19 even after receiving two doses of Covid shield vaccine.

A 71-year-old doctor working at a public hospital in Rourkela, Odisha was diagnosed with Covid-19 three weeks after receiving a second dose of the vaccine. At re-examination, however, found negative.

Officials say, Suleiman, who worked at Rourkela Government Hospital as a contracted doctor, was found healthy in Covid-19 with RT-PCR tests and after receiving two doses of Covid shield vaccine. On March 3, Suleiman developed a bad cough and quickly tested the antigen for the disease. He was then tested for RT-PCR, which also confirmed his Covid-19 status on Thursday evening. The 71-year-old doctor was shocked as he took the first dose of Covid shield on January 16 and the second dose on February 15.

"I thought I had contracted OPD infection, when I was often surrounded by patients who did not follow safety guidelines," he said.

Health officials said a second RT-PCR test on the doctor was conducted at the Regional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneswar on Saturday, and the results were negative. His experiments with RMRC antibodies also showed the presence of a very high number of antibodies.

Additional health secretary PK Mohapatra ordered a re-examination of the original sample of the virus. Mohapatra said the RMRC had confirmed that Dr Suleiman's actual sample had also been tested incorrectly. "The first positive result may have been caused due to contamination," he said.

Last week, the Odisha government asked the company to explain how its rapid antigen testing kits test samples of 25 engineering students from Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology in the Sambalpur region as they were all tested positive without showing Covid-19. symptoms. RT-PCR tests showed that all were infected. But the Delhi-based company that supplied the kits continued to ensure that the test kits worked properly. Oscar Medicare Pvt Ltd, who provided the kits, made a live demo of the kits in front of the Covid-19 official at VIMSAR, Burla, and declared the kits to be correct and meet all the requirements in accordance with ICMR and the Central Drug Control Agency guidelines.