New Delhi: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has said the ICMR is set to commission a study on the possibilities of reinfection, though reports of reinfections coming from several States were ‘misclassified’.
During an interaction with social media users, he said, “Though there are sporadic reports of reinfection surfacing in various states, careful analysis of ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) database reveals that many of these cases have actually been misclassified as reinfections.”
“Actual reinfection would mean a fully recovered person getting infected by a freshly introduced virus in his/her body, belonging to the same or different strain,” he said and added that results of the ICMR study to understand the true burden of reinfected cases would be shared in a couple of weeks.
Vardhan also spoke about the government’s prioritisation of vaccines. Refuting rumours that the ‘young and working class’ would get the vaccine first, the minister said the government had worked out the prioritisation of vaccines based on other factors.
“Occupational hazard, risk of exposure to infection, and the risk of developing severe disease and increased mortality, were the key considerations on who will get the vaccine first,” he added.