Brits with two jabs STILL told to isolate – despite ‘incredibly unlikely’ chance of passing on virus
BRITS have who had two Covid jabs are still being told to isolate if they come into contact with someone who tests positive.
The same rules are in place for everyone, despite the "incredibly unlikely" chance fully jabbed people will pass on the virus - leaving them baffled.
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The Test and Trace system hasn't changed as more people have had two vaccines.
It will still tell someone who is fully protected to isolate for ten days, if they have mingled with someone who has since been found to have the virus.
And if they don't comply they could be stung with a £200 fine.
But many are wondering why, when their risk of transmission is much reduced thanks to the vaccines.
Moira Bygrove she was devastated when a much-longed for family reunion was cancelled after she was "pinged" by the app, despite being double jabbed.
She said: "My first thought was, I've had two jabs – and the last one was way back in early April.
"It made me wonder why I bothered even getting the jab in the first place.
"I also became anxious, worrying that this is going to keep happening and I'm never going to properly get my life back. What if I get pinged again and again?
"I was elated to get my second jab. I thought: at last – freedom is around the corner. Now I'm not so sure that's true."
ALL JABBED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO
People who have had two vaccines must also still comply with the travel rules, which say anyone coming back from an amber or red-list country needs to quarantine for ten days.
They also should continue wearing face masks and practise social distancing.
Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist from the University of Warwick, admitted it was "questionable", and "a bit extreme", but said it is better to be cautious for now.
He said evidence from India showed even fully vaccinated people had become infected and spread the virus.
However, none had serious symptoms or needed hospitalisation.
But Professor Jackie Cassell, public health expert at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, said "inevitable" exemptions will happen at some point in the UK.
She added: "The effect the vaccines have on transmission is massive, way more than we ever could have expected."
If you are fully vaccinated, it's possible you can still test positive with the virus, but along with the fact you are incredibly unlikely to get sick as a result.
Professor Monica Gandhi
Studies in the US and Israel showed infections were hugely reduced in both asymptomatic infections and transmissions in fully vaccinated people.
Viral loads - the cells in their nose and throat - were also found to be far less in jabbed people, which reduced their chance of passing the virus on.
Professor Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco, said: "If you are fully vaccinated, it's possible you can still test positive with the virus, but along with the fact you are incredibly unlikely to get sick as a result, you are also incredibly unlikely to pass it on because the viral load in your nose and throat is so low."
However, it is not clear if vaccines stop the transmission of the Indian variant - with the AstraZeneca jab only 60 per cent effective against the mutation, even after two doses.
Pfizer is thought to block transmission of overall Covid cases by close to 100 per cent after a double jab, but for two shots of AZ it is thought to be closer to 50 per cent.
It is for this reason perhaps, that the rules remain in place for people who have had two vaccines - with experts urging infection rates have to come down before any changes.
Carry on distancing even if you’ve had BOTH jabs, health chief says – to be fair to those still waiting
PEOPLE who are fully vaccinated should carry on social distancing to be fair to the rest of Britain, a senior official suggested last month.
In the US, groups of fully vaccinated people can meet indoors without the need for social distancing or face masks.
This won’t be allowed for the UK until June 21 at the earliest, when all remaining social distancing rules are set to lift.
That's despite experts saying the risk of two-fully vaccinated people catching Covid from meeting up inside is at "one in 400,000 chance".
Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at Public Health England (PHE), said the UK is choosing an all-together approach.
She told MPs in April the Government's road map reflects "doing everything as a whole" but that in the future, "we may be able to pick out individuals".
She said: "I think the other thing is we have a slightly different cultural perspective in this country in that we tend to do everything together.
"We are trying to say that this is about the population as a whole rather than the individuals, those privileged individuals who have had two doses, being somehow able to do things that other people cannot."
Even having two jabs won't stop you catching the virus and becoming unwell - although it massively reduces the risk of hospitalisation or death.
But around ten to 20 per cent of people will slip through the protection net, despite having two jabs - which still poses a risk with case rates at the level they currently are.
And Professor David Salisbury added: "Duration of protection is a very important consideration.
"People who were vaccinated very early on, in January, could well see their protection wane by the summer.
"This is why there are already plans for a booster in the autumn, but it will take a while to get round to everyone."
It comes as the UK's June 21 lockdown lift is "back on" - after "astounding" tests proved vaccines do work against the Indian variant.
Pfizer was 88 per cent effective after two jabs while AstraZeneca proved 60 per cent effective.
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Both vaccines were 33 per cent effective against symptomatic disease from the Indian variant three weeks after the first dose, compared with about 50 per cent against the Kent strain.
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Professor Susan Hopkins, PHE's Covid-19 strategic response director, said the data trend was "quite clear" and heading in the "right direction".
It brings fresh hope for the full unlocking next month, after the variant's emergence cast doubt on the roadmap.
