People vaccinated against coronavirus may be able to spread the Delta variant as easily as those who haven't been jabbed, early analysis suggests.
While the vaccine appears to reduce a person's overall risk of becoming infected, once they are, there is a limited difference in the viral load between the vaccinated and unvaccinated - suggesting a limited difference in infectiousness, a Public Health England (PHE) report into variants highlighted.
In a statement, PHE said on Friday: “Some initial findings ... indicate that levels of virus in those who become infected with Delta having already been vaccinated may be similar to levels found in unvaccinated people.
READ MORE:
“This may have implications for people’s infectiousness, whether they have been vaccinated or not."
However, PHE warned that the data is an "early exploratory analysis" and insisted that "further targeted studies" would be needed to confirm whether this is the case or not.
The report also confirmed that the Delta variant - first identified in India - accounted for approximately 99 per cent of cases from July 25 to July 31.
Of the Delta cases that ended up hospitalised since July 19, just over half, 55.1 per cent, were unvaccinated, while 34.9 per cent had received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Dr Jenny Harries, head of the UK Health Security Agency, told Sky News: "We must also remember that the vaccines do not eliminate all risk: it is still possible to become unwell with Covid and infect others."
It follows another report by PHE yesterday that found more than 66,900 hospital admissions are estimated to have been prevented by the coronavirus vaccine rollout in England.
The new figure – up by more than 14,000 on the previous estimate – came as the new boss of NHS England urged young people to have their jab amid a warning that more than a fifth of those admitted to hospital with Covid-19 are aged between 18 and 34.
NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said there are more than 5,000 people “seriously ill” in hospital with Covid, adding that “more than a fifth of those admitted are young people”.
To get the latest email updates from the Manchester Evening News, click here.
