Delhi doctor succumbs to COVID-19 after receiving both doses of vaccine

Dr Rawat had reportedly received the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the beginning of March. (Representative image)

A doctor from Delhi's Saroj Hospital succumbed to coronavirus infection even though he had taken both the doses of vaccine. The 58-year-old surgeon is survived by his wife, who is also a doctor in the gynaecology department at the same hospital and his daughter.

Dr Anil Kumar Rawat, who was put on a ventilator two days ago after his oxygen level started dipping, dies on May 8. This is the first death of a doctor who was fully vaccinated against COVID-19 disease, reported The Indian Express citing Dr PK Bhardwaj, the chief executive director of Saroj Hospital.

According to the report, Dr Rawat had received the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the beginning of March. Despite being vaccinated for more than a month, he contracted the virus in April end.

Initially, the surgeon was in home isolation but he had to be shifted to the hospital when his oxygen level started dipping, said the report. Two days before his death, he was put on a ventilator and had developed severe pneumonia leading to respiratory failure.

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A team of doctors made all possible efforts to save him and even considered a lung transplant, Dr Bhardwaj told the publication.

“We gave him whatever was needed. We did everything possible. It’s a huge loss. So many doctors and healthcare staff are falling sick, even after being vaccinated, but they are recovering after having mild symptoms. This is the first death at present of a doctor who was fully vaccinated,” Bhardwaj was quoted as saying.

Also read | COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker: Over 20.2 lakh people in India get jabbed on May 8, 16.9 crore shots administered so far

His colleagues said that he was confident that he would recover in no time.  “He was a fighter. Before he was put on a ventilator, he said to me ‘I’ll come out of this. I have been vaccinated, I’ll come out’,” said Dr Jain, a surgeon at the hospital, who had known Dr Rawat for 16 years.

He was with him till his last breath. “He was like a younger brother to me. It’s a loss that’s hard to explain,” said Dr Jain.

Dr Rawat was working at Saroj Hospital since 1996.

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