Risk of two fully vaccinated people catching Covid from meeting up indoors is ‘tiny’ at just one in 400,000, scientists say
- Epidemiologist Professor Tim Spector said chances of catching Covid is ‘tiny’
- Boris Johnson warned vaccinated people the should not meet indoors last week
- England has today allowed pubs, restaurants, shops and gyms to reopen
- But rules barring meeting inside will not be relaxed until May 17 at the earliest
Professor Tim Spector said the risk of catching Covid if two vaccinated people met indoors was ‘tiny’ in a video online
Two fully vaccinated Britons face a ‘tiny’ risk of catching coronavirus if they meet indoors, scientists say.
Professor Tim Spector, who leads an app tracking the UK’s outbreak, suggested the risk was only ‘one in 400,000’. For comparison, the odds of finding a four-leaf clover is around one in 10,000.
The King’s College London epidemiologist urged those who have received two doses to be ‘more relaxed’, saying the risk has been ‘taken out of context’.
It comes after Boris Johnson warned last week people should not be allowing others into their homes even if they have received both shots.
England eased more lockdown restrictions today amid falling infection rates, with pubs and restaurants allowed to reopen for outdoor service, and shops and gyms to raise their shutters.
But people will be barred from welcoming others into their private home until May 17 at the earliest, under the Prime Minister’s roadmap for loosening restrictions.
More than 32.1million Britons have already received their first dose of the vaccine, and 7.4million have got their second dose.
England has allowed pubs and restaurants to reopen for outdoor service. But people will be barred from welcoming others into their home until May 17 at the earliest
Speaking in a YouTube video for the ZOE Covid Symptom Study, Professor Spector said: ‘The Prime Minister recently told us that two people who had been fully vaccinated really shouldn’t meet because it wasn’t 100 per cent safe.
‘I want to give it some context. It all depends on how much virus is around in the country and currently with rates of one in 1,400 for someone who has been fully vaccinated, according to our data and the trial data, it suggests they are at a 20th of the normal risk, which means their risk is about one in 2,800.
‘So, if they’re meeting someone with equally low risk the chance of those giving (the virus) to each other are really absolutely tiny.
‘So I think this is important to put into context, because I know many are still worried, still shielding etc. And I think you can be a little bit more relaxed than has been suggested.’
He added the ZOE app, which relies on reports from more than a million Britons, found Covid infection rates halved two weeks ago to around 2,000 symptomatic infections every day.
‘That’s back to where we were really last July,’ he said. ‘I think it’s going very well, and I think we can look forward to having a relaxing summer.’
It comes after Britain’s medical regulator ruled last week that under-30s should be offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine after the jab was linked to rare blood clots.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said they had detected 79 cases of unusual clotting events following the jab and 19 deaths.
This was equivalent to about one in 250,000 people suffering the reaction after their first dose, which experts stressed was ‘extremely small’.
They added there had been no reported cases of someone suffering the clots after they got their second dose of the vaccine.
Government sources say over-40s will be invited for their Covid vaccinations from tomorrow in a major boost for the roll-out.
Everyone in the priority groups was contacted two weeks ago to book their second dose, they told The Times, with recent days devoted to encouraging the hesitant to come forward.
They added they were now set to expand the drive to younger age groups.
More than 475,000 second doses were given out on Saturday, smashing through the previous record.
How the risk of a deadly blood clot compares with other things that don’t happen very often
- You are seven times more likely to pick five winning numbers in the National Lottery – the odds of that happening are one in 144,415;
- Women are almost 15,000 times more likely to give birth to twins (one in 67) or 223 times more likely to have triplets (one in 4,478);
- Your chances of having a Leap Year birthday on February 29 are 685 times greater (one in 1,461);
- The likelihood of an amateur player scoring a hole-in-one during a round of golf is more than 83 times greater (one in 12,000);
- Guessing a four-digit PIN code on the first attempt is 100 times more likely to happen (roughly one in 10,000);
- The average person is almost 15 times more likely to die after being stung by a bee (one in 67,190);
- Poker players have a 32 times better chance of scoring a royal flush (one in 30,940);
- The odds of dying in a car crash are 2,899 higher (one in 345);
- Someone playing ten-pin bowling is 87 times more likely to score a strike with every ball during a game (one in 11,500);
- The chances of being struck by lightning are roughly the same (one in 1,113,333);
- You are 100 times more likely to find a four-leaf clover (one in 10,000).
People being vaccinated with the AstraZeneca jab have a one in a million chance of dying. Picture: Stock