The curious case of a 26-year-old doctor in Mumbai is baffling doctors. She tested Covid positive thrice in 13 months, twice after taking both doses of a vaccine.
The doctor's family - father, mother and brother, who have co-morbidities - also tested positive, for the first time each, this month. They too have received both doses of a vaccine.
The entire family was hospitalised, and samples from the doctor and the brother are being analysed to establish the variant (or variants) that infected them and their family.
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Dr Shrushti Halari was on Covid duty at the Veer Savarkar Hospital in Mumbai's Mulund area, and first contracted the virus on June 17 last year. It was a mild infection at that point. She was administered with Covishield first on March 8 this year and the second on April 29.
But a month later - on May 29 - Dr Halari tested positive for a second time, this time with mild symptoms that allowed for recovery at home. The virus then struck again - on July 11 Dr Halari tested positive again, and this time it was the entire family. All four members are being treated with Remdesivir.
Experts have pointed out that a Covid vaccine does not translate to immunity from the disease, and that even after both doses people can still get infected. The benefit of the vaccine, is that in case of breakthrough infections, the symptoms are milder, and rarely require hospitalisation.