JABBY DAYS
A SINGLE dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine has been found to slash Covid transmission raising hopes lockdown restrictions could be eased by Easter.
Scientists at Oxford University have revealed Britain's jabs rollout could have already begun to stop the virus spreading.
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They found there was a 67 per cent drop in positive swabs among those already vaccinated.
It means those given the jab are not only less likely to get severe disease or die, but also have some protection against catching the virus and passing it on to others.
It comes as 9,646,715 Brits have already had their first dose of a Covid vaccine in the ambitious roll out.
Researchers published their latest findings in Preprints with The Lancet, on Tuesday.
The experts also revealed just one jab gives 76 per cent protection for three months.
They said it "supports the policy" of leaving a 12-week gap between the first and second dose adopted by the UK Government.
'TURNING POINT'
Welcoming the news the Oxford jab may slash the spread of the virus, a senior Tory Minister told The Sun: "This is the news we have all been waiting for.
"At last. If this data is correct today will be seen as the turning point in this whole pandemic."
Although the data from clinical trials had shown the Oxford jab was effective at cutting the risk of severe Covid, it hasn't become clear until now whether it also reduces transmission - a crucial piece of the puzzle.
Dr Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the Oxford vaccine trial and co-author of the paper, told BBC Radio 4 Today that the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab could have a “huge impact” on transmission.
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The extent to which the vaccines impact transmission of the virus plays into how quickly the UK can come out of lockdowns.
But Dr Pollard admitted the data - which studied people vaccinated up until December 7 - was drawn before the new variants emerged.
Even if the virus adapts so it can continue to transmit, “that doesn’t mean that we won’t still have protection against severe disease”, Dr Pollard said.
He told BBC Breakfast: “I think one of the things that we know about these new variants is that they are making changes that allow them to avoid human immune responses so that they can still transmit.
“So that does mean that it’s likely over time that the virus will find ways of adapting and continue to pass between people despite natural infection and immunity after that or from the vaccines.
“That doesn’t mean that we won’t still have protection against severe disease."
Confidence in 12-week delay
The study also showed the vaccines are actually more effective with longer intervals between doses.
A single dose of the vaccine is 76 per cent effective from 22 to up to 90 days post-vaccination.
This drops to 54.9 per cent when the second dose is given less than six weeks later.
But the efficacy soars to 82.4 per cent when each injection is spaced 12 or more weeks apart.
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It follows intense global debate over fears about the delay between the first and second jab.
It backs up the Government’s plan for Brits to wait 12 weeks after their first vaccine - to get more jabs into arms as fast as possible.
The Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the findings “categorically” supported the Government’s strategy of delaying rollout of the second jab.
He told Sky News: “This Oxford report is very good news, it backs the strategy that we’ve taken and it shows the world that the Oxford vaccine works effectively.
“The really good news embedded in it is that it not just reduces hospitalisations – there were no people in this part of the trial who are hospitalised with Covid after getting the Oxford jab – but also it reduces the number of people who have Covid at all, even asymptomatically, by around two-thirds."
Boris Johnson is due to reveal its "phased" route out of lockdown in the week beginning February 22 with schools set to start reopening on March 8.
A Whitehall source told The Telegraph: "These findings are exactly what we need.
"It's looking good for schools returning in March, shops reopening in April."
Another senior Government source said: "We hope it will be safe to commence the reopening of schools from March 8, with other economic and social restrictions being removed thereafter as and when the data permit."
And we reported in January how the Prime Minister has his eye on Easter for allowing people to mingle with loved ones again.
But the PM is under pressure to open up classrooms in England sooner after Nicola Sturgeon yesterday announced primary schools in Scotland are set to return from February 22, two weeks before before they're due back in England.
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It comes amid fears that the virus is mutating to evade the immune response - and vaccines.
The UK's Kent Covid strain has acquired a mutation similar to the South African variant, and could resist jabs, official reports revealed.
Public Health England have detected 11 cases in Bristol where the Kent variant has mutated to “escape” immune response.
Yesterday, it was announced Covid testing will be extended to two more areas after new Covid mutations were identified.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told MPs that 11 cases of "mutations of concern" have been detected in Bristol with another 32 found in Liverpool.
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Mr Hancock told MPs that 11 cases of "mutations of concern" have been detected in Bristol with another 32 found in Liverpool.
Officials have been unable to link any of the infected Brits to foreign travel, suggesting they picked it up here.
The South African variant - and another in Brazil that is yet to be detected in the UK - have caused concerns due to a mutation known as the E484K mutation.
A door-to-door testing blitz on up to 350,000 people was launched this week as Mr Hancock has vowed to "come down hard" on the strain.
Residents in affected postcodes from Surrey to Merseyside are being urged to get swabbed over the next fortnight.
Authorities are anxious to suppress any spread amid fears vaccination will prove less effective against the variant.
It is more contagious than the original, but there is no evidence it is deadlier.
Asked about how protective the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab is against new mutations, Dr Pollard said the team are "anticipating good protection" against the Kent variant.
And he claimed even in areas where there are "a lot of new variants arising", the vaccines are preventing hospitalisations and deaths.
But looking at other mutations, he admitted to Sky News: “Those are going to be much more difficult to block from transmission.”
He later told the Today programme that hopefully, even if the virus adapts to become more transmissible, it will become like other coronaviruses that cause colds and mild infections due to immunity built in the population.
'FANTASTIC PROGRESS'
Following last night's news from Oxford University scientists, Mr Hancock tweeted: "This is a really encouraging study - thank you to the teams at @UniofOxford and @AstraZeneca.
"Vaccines are the way out of this pandemic and we are making fantastic progress vaccinating the most vulnerable."
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Dr Pollard said: “These new data provide an important verification of the interim data that was used by more than 25 regulators including the MHRA and EMA to grant the vaccine emergency use authorisation.
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“It also supports the policy recommendation made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) for a 12-week prime-boost interval, as they look for the optimal approach to roll out, and reassures us that people are protected from 22 days after a single dose of the vaccine."
Dr David Matthews, Reader in Virology, University of Bristol, said: “This is excellent news and very much what was expected from what we know about other vaccines.”
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