Ludhiana: Fully vaccinated among COVID +ve patients, say officials

Hindustan Times

02-06-2025

Most of the people found infected with COVID-19 in Ludhiana so far were fully vaccinated, with even the person who died of the infection last week having received a third shot, according to the local health officials.
'Most of the patients who have been found positive were vaccinated. In fact, the person who died last Wednesday had received three shots of the COVID-19 vaccination,' confirmed a senior health official on the condition of anonymity.
However, There was no record on their history of having contracted the infection during the earlier waves.
Ludhiana district so far makes the most of the cases reported in the state. At present there a nine active cases in the state and eight of these are here only. A man suffering from a co-morbid lung ailment died on Wednesday while he admitted to a Chandigarh hospital for treatment. He had shown serious symptoms on 23rd May and died on 28th May.
Of the eight active cases, seven are confirmed to have been vaccinated.
One of the latest cases include a 69-year-old lady, who is admitted to Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh. She, according to district epidemiologist Dr Sheetal Narang, was suffering from typhoid for last five months and had been visiting PGIMER Chandigarh regularly for last one month, which is where she could have contracted the infection. Her vaccination status was not confirmed. A family member of the patient, an 18-year-old boy was also found COVID positive, but he is asymptomatic and was also vaccinated.
A 35-year-old OPD patient, who is three months pregnant and complained of having fever for last two days, also tested positive at the Civil Hospital on Monday. Dr Narang, however, said that she didn't have fever anymore and was asymptomatic. She was also vaccinated.
Vaccine 'highly efficient': Docs
State nodal officer for COVID-19 Dr Rajesh Bhaskar said that the vaccine was only 90-95% efficient and, in a few cases, even those with proper vaccination may end up contracting the virus.
The efficacy of the vaccine, according to him, also depended on the level of antibodies present in the body which depend on how long back the person was vaccinated their history of infection.
He noted that people in the vulnerable group, those above 60 and suffering from co-morbidities can voluntarily go for another short of vaccination if it has been over two-three years since their last short of the vaccine. For the rest he assured the vaccine was highly efficient despite the 5% of outliers.
It is pertinent here to mention that of the five active cases in the district two are asymptomatic and the rest also only mildly symptomatic.
Dr Rajesh Bhaskar said that the situation is very normal as of now and there was no reason to worry about and that any advisory wasn't required yet.
No spike in testing reported
Meanwhile, hospitals across the city have reported no spike in testing. Senior Medical Officer (SMO), Civil Hospital, Dr Harpreet Singh, said that the number of tests at the RT-PCR lab was no more than 18-20 daily. Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) and Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), two of the city's biggest hospitals, also reported no spike in testing so far.