Even A Single Dose Of Vaccine Cuts Covid-19 Infection Rate By 65 Percent, Study Claims

A single dose of vaccine -- either by Oxford/AstraZeneca or BioNTech/Pfizer can cut the rate of coronavirus infection by 65 percent, claims a novel study on Friday. 

Reported first by PTI, (published in BMJ) the study is an amalgamation of two studies by the University of Oxford and therefore the Office of National Statistics which is yet to be published. 

Researchers analysed the COVID-19 test results of over 350,000 people within the UK between December 2020 and April 2021.

They’ve discovered that around 21 days after the primary dose -- the typical time it takes for the system to develop a response -- new SARS CoV-2 infections dropped. 

The study highlighted that folks who were vaccinated with the second dose saw the foremost reduction. The study added that there was no evidence that these benefits differed between Oxford/AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines. 

Researchers stated within the study. “Greater reductions in symptomatic infections and/or infections with a better viral burden are reflected in reduced rates of hospitalisations/deaths, but highlight the potential for limited ongoing transmission from asymptomatic infections in vaccinated individuals.”

In another study, which involved 46,000 adults vaccinated with only one dose, researchers found strong antibody responses indicating that the vaccines are stimulating the body’s defense system to guard against the virus across all age groups. These were sustained bent 10 weeks afterwards, researchers claimed. 

Oxford University's Professor Sarah Walker, explained, "We don't yet know exactly what proportion of an antibody response, and for a way long, is required to guard people against getting Covid-19 within the future but over subsequent year, information from the survey should help us answer these questions.

While the findings show some positivity round the vaccine’s effectiveness, researchers warn that folks who have gotten infected could still be reinfected and end in an asymptomatic spread of the novel coronavirus, making social distancing and face masks still important to bring things back to normal.