Adding to a long list, scientists have given another reason to get your first vaccine shot as soon as possible amid the raging pandemic, no matter the uncertainty around the next dose. A new study shows that a single shot of coronavirus vaccine may reduce the transmission risk by half in a household setting that is regarded as high-risk settings for the transmission of coronavirus among family members.
The new study, by the Public Health England (PHE), highlights that vaccinated individuals are less likely to transmit the infection to others after the first dose. The study considered both Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines—available in India under the brand name Covishield—to arrive at these conclusions.
The team found that these individuals were 38% to 49% less likely to transmit the disease to the people living in their surroundings, especially homes, as compared to unvaccinated people. It was noted that the vaccine started working just 14 days after getting the shots and generated similar levels of protection, irrespective of age.
“Vaccines are vital in helping us return to a normal way of life. Not only do vaccines reduce the severity of illness and prevent hundreds of deaths every day, we now see they also have an additional impact on reducing the chance of passing COVID-19 on to others,” said Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at PHE, speaking to the BBC.
This new study has been conducted on people who received shots of either of the vaccines mentioned above and tested positive after three weeks. In addition, the protection also reduced the risk of developing a symptomatic infection after getting the vaccine shots. The chances of this are said to be around 60 to 65% just four weeks after the inoculation of one dose of either vaccine.
The results are based on data collected from more than 57,000 people from 24,000 households with close contacts with a vaccinated person. It is important to note that the study is yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
The derived information was evaluated with approximately 1 million contacts of people who were unvaccinated. All the individuals considered under this study were below 60 years of age. The study is beneficial in understanding the efficacy of vaccines to prevent further transmission risk.
The data obtained from the real-world data in the UK has also indicated that one dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or AstraZeneca vaccines reduce the risk of COVID-19 by nearly two-thirds and showcased 74% efficacy against symptomatic infection.
The results of the study are encouraging for India, as the country gears up for phase 3 of its vaccination drive from May 1. Registration for the third phase of COVID-19 vaccination for everyone above 18 years has started on Wednesday, April 28.
Therefore, vaccinating as many individuals may help to bring down the onward surge in cases in the worst affected countries like India. India is using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine extensively in its nationwide vaccination drive, which has been manufactured by the Serum Institute of India in Pune.
