Argentine President Alberto Fernandez vaccinated but positive for the disease



The President of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez, during a trip to Mexico on February 23, 2021. – Marco Ugarte / AP / SIPA

This is information that risks giving water to the mill of opponents of vaccines against Covid-19. Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, who has been vaccinated with Russian Sputnik V serum, is positive for the virus, his medical team confirmed on Saturday after a PCR test.

” At the end of the day [de vendredi], after I presented a fever of 37.3 and a slight headache, I was made an antigen test which resulted in positive, ”Alberto Fernandez said on his Twitter account on Friday. The Presidential Medical Unit announced on Saturday, in an official statement, that “the diagnosis of the Covid-19 infection is confirmed by the positive PCR”. “The clinical picture is benign, largely due to the protective effect of the vaccine received,” she added.

The president, who turned 62 on Friday and is in isolation as a precaution, said he was “in good physical condition”. “I have no idea how I got infected. I am a careful person. Without the vaccine, I would have a very bad time, ”he told a radio station. “Although I would have liked to have ended my birthday without this news, I am also in good moral condition,” he added.

Vaccine “ensures rapid recovery without severe symptoms”

The Argentine president received two doses of the Sputnik V vaccine from the Russian laboratory Gamaleia, the first on January 21 and the second on February 11, sources told the presidency. Gamaleïa reacted on Twitter: “We are saddened to hear about it. Sputnik V is 91.6% effective against infection and 100% effective against severe cases. If infection is confirmed, vaccination ensures rapid recovery without severe symptoms. We wish him a quick recovery “. According to Mario Lozano, virologist at the Argentine Council of State for Scientific Research, “with a dose of Sputnik V, only 20% will develop certain symptoms after the contagion, slightly and without hospitalization”.

Argentina is currently facing a second wave of the coronavirus epidemic. According to official figures, this country of 44 million inhabitants has more than 2.3 million cases of contamination since the start of the pandemic and 56,023 deaths linked to Covid-19. The country has so far received 6.7 million doses of vaccine, including 3.9 million Sputnik V.



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