Covid-19 vaccines: One dose can reduce transmission of the virus
A single dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine can reduce coronavirus transmission in the wider population as well as infection in an individual, research has revealed for the first time.
The vaccine provides up to 70-80 per cent protection against asymptomatic infection in working age adults, and cuts the chance of hospital admission and death from Covid-19 by more than 75 per cent among the over-80s.
The findings on asymptomatic infections are crucial because without vaccines they can fuel up to a third of cases, allowing the virus to spread undetected in the community.
The research also shows the vaccine is just as effective against the Kent variant as well as the original strain of coronavirus in cutting hospitalizations, deaths and transmission.
A similar study by Oxford University earlier this month found that the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab reduced transmission of coronavirus by as much as two thirds, while research in Israel has found that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine cut hospital admissions and deaths significantly.
Volunteers in the British study underwent regular nasal swabs to check for the coronavirus, a proxy to try to answer the transmission question. The level of virus-positive swabs — combining volunteers who had asymptomatic infection with those who had symptoms — was 67% lower in the researchers reported.
New mutations
PHE said the “high levels of protection” also applied to the Kent coronavirus variation, which has now become the domiant strain of the virus across the UK.
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