New research out of the UK: Single COVID-19 vaccine dose can reduce household transmission by up to half

Public Health England released a study on Wednesday that found a single dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine can limit household transmission by up to half, signaling the effectiveness of the vaccines at preventing spread.

The research, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, found that people who got COVID-19 three weeks after receiving one dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca vaccines were between 38 percent and 49 percent less likely to give the virus to those in their household, compared to those who didn’t receive any vaccine dose.

Public Health England analyzed more than 57,000 contacts from 24,000 households in which a person who had received a vaccine dose tested positive for the virus and compared it with almost 1 million contacts of cases among unvaccinated people.

Researchers said the results would likely be similar in other high-risk transmission locations besides households, such as shared accommodations and prisons.

A vast majority of the participants were under 60 years old, although Public Health England noted other research has shown the two vaccines reduce infections and deaths among the older population.

‘Terrific news’: British Health Secretary Matt Hancock called the study “terrific news,” saying, “We already know vaccines save lives and this study is the most comprehensive real-world data showing they also cut transmission of this deadly virus.”