One dose of COVID-19 vaccine can halve transmission: Study

NEW DELHI: A study by Public Health England suggests that a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine can decrease the transmissibility of the virus up to half. The findings of the study also offer some hope that the pandemic can be controlled as it indicates that the people who are vaccinated are less vulnerable to the novel coronavirus.

The study found that people who are administered a single dose of Pfizer/BioNTech or Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines and are tested positive after three to four weeks of the vaccination are almost 38 to 49 per cent less likely to transmit the virus compared to those who are not vaccinated. Other studies have also suggested that both these vaccines are highly effective in protecting against the SARS-CoV-2.

Matt Hancock, Health Secretary, Government of United Kingdom (UK), urged the people to get vaccinated as soon as possible as it is the best way out of this pandemic. The study included more than 57,000 people living in 24,000 households. The Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines have saved more than 10,000 lives as of the end of March. One dose of either vaccine cuts nearly two-third of the cases and is 74 per cent effective against them.