'Risk of catching Covid reduced by a third' if you live with someone who's had jab, new data suggests
18 March 2021, 12:07 | Updated: 18 March 2021, 12:39
The head of immunisation at Public Health England has revealed how the vaccines are reducing Covid rates in the UK.
A Covid expert has said the risk of catching coronavirus is reduced by a third if you live with someone who’s been jabbed.
During the Covid briefing on Wednesday evening, Head of immunisation at Public Health England, Dr Mary Ramsay, explained new data showed how the vaccine roll out is reducing the infection rate in the UK.
She said: “Data from Scotland suggests vaccinated healthcare workers have a 30 per cent lower chance of passing infection on to their household contacts.
“This is the first evidence we have of a reduction in transmission from vaccination.
“This means the more people we vaccinate, the more we reduce the spread of infection”.
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Health Secretary Matt Hancock also told the press conference that the majority of older people now have coronavirus antibodies.
"Around 90 per cent of people aged around 70 and above at that point (the start of March) had these antibodies and it has continued to expand further in the two weeks or so since then,” he said.
"After a single dose of either vaccine, protection against Covid-19 is around 60 per cent, that's protection against getting it, protection against hospitalisation is around 80 per cent and protection against death is around 85 per cent."
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This comes after it was revealed jabs for the under-40s would be delayed by a month because of a shortage of vaccines.
Despite this, Mr Hancock said the government is doing everything it can to make sure they reach to target of vaccinating everyone in the country by July.
He said: "We're on track to offer a first dose to everyone in priority groups 1-9 by April 15.
"While we deliver on that commitment, we also want to ensure that this offer reaches everyone in groups 1-9.
"At the same time as opening up offers of vaccinations to all those who are 50 or above, we are going to do whatever it takes to reach all those in the most vulnerable groups who haven't come forward yet before we move onto the next cohort, which is people in their 40s."
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