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LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - COVID-19 vaccines deployed in
England can cut transmission of the coronavirus by up to a half,
data from Public Health England showed on Wednesday, in addition
to the protection the shots offer against symptomatic infection.
News research showed that people who became infected with
the coronavirus three weeks after receiving one dose of Pfizer
or AstraZeneca vaccine were between 38% to 49%
less likely to pass it on to household contacts compared to
those who were unvaccinated.
The shots also stop a vaccinated person developing infection
to start with, reducing the risk by around 60% to 65% from four
weeks after one dose of either vaccine.
"This study is the most comprehensive real-world data
showing they also cut transmission of this deadly virus," health
minister Matt Hancock said.
"It further reinforces that vaccines are the best way out of
this pandemic as they protect you and they may prevent you from
unknowingly infecting someone in your household."
The study included over 57,000 contacts from 24,000
households in which there was a lab-confirmed case that had
received a vaccination, Public Health England (PHE) said,
compared with nearly 1 million contacts of unvaccinated cases.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Sarah Young)
