Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have tested positive for coronavirus and are self-isolating, State Minister for Health Dr Faisal Sultan and Senator Faisal Javed Khan announced on Saturday.
Khan is “self isolating at home,” Dr Sultan said in a tweet without giving further details.
Faisal said in a tweet, “First Lady Bushra Bibi has also been tested positive for Covid-19.”
The development comes two days after the prime minister, 68, received a Covid-19 jab with the Sinopharm vaccine.
Earlier in the day, health experts had said that it is likely Khan was infected prior to being vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), national health agency of the United States, says the vaccine does not infect patients with the disease, but those who may have contracted the virus before they are vaccinated can become ill after a shot because it takes a few weeks for the body to build immunity.
However, the health ministry, soon after the news broke out, clarified that the premier had not been “fully vaccinated” when he was diagnosed with the coronavirus.
The health ministry clarified that the premier had only received the first dose of the vaccine and that too merely two days ago, further explaining that the time frame was too soon for any vaccine to become effective. Antibodies develop 2-3 weeks after the second dose of 2-dose Covid vaccines.
According to local media reports experts have said that one cannot get Covid-19 from a vaccine.
The prime minister was administered the vaccine dose during the second phase of the vaccination process in the country in which people over 60 years of age are receiving shots.
He has been holding regular and frequent meetings lately, including attending a security conference, Islamabad Security Dialogue, held in Islamabad that was attended by a large number of people.
He addressed the conference without wearing a mask and attended another gathering to inaugurate the Naya Pakistan housing project in a similar fashion on Friday.
A number of high-profile politicians, including ministers, have tested positive for the contagious disease since it was first detected in the country in February last.
Minister for Planning Asad Umar, Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari are among the politicians who contracted the disease so far.
Senator Faisal earlier in the day announced that the prime minister will be taking calls from the public again soon.
Taking to Twitter, Faisal said a time and date for the second round of calls will be announced soon, adding that the conversations between members of the public and the premier will be broadcast simultaneously on television, radio and digital media.
