Coronavirus: One vaccine dose halves risk of infection in care home residents, UK study finds

Single Covid jab cuts the risk of care home residents catching the disease by 62%, study finds

  • University College London study of more than 10,000 people in care homes
  • It found there was ‘substantial’ protection from Covid after one vaccine dose
  • Risk of testing positive fell by more than half from four weeks after the jab
  • It lasted for at least 7 weeks and protection expected to improve with booster 

Just one dose of a coronavirus jab more than halves the risk of a care home resident catching the disease, a study has found.

Scientists from University College London saw that infection rates fell by 62 per cent five weeks after someone’s first dose of a jab, and 56 per cent after four weeks. 

This suggests at least half of England’s care home residents are now protected from the disease – 10,321 out of 10,413 homes across the nation were visited by medics by the end of January.

More than 41,000 care home residents have died of Covid during the pandemic and the survivors were top of the vaccine priority list because they are at such high risk.

UCL’s study, which looked at more than 10,000 people, was one of the first to look at how well vaccines protected elderly people. Researchers said there was ‘substantial’ protection.

Dr Laura Shallcross added: ‘A single dose has a protective effect that persists from four weeks to at least seven weeks after vaccination. 

‘Vaccination reduces the total number of people who get infected, and analysis of lab samples suggests care home residents who are infected after having the vaccine may also be less likely to transmit the virus.’

Care home residents are being successfully protected by the Covid vaccine, a study has found (Pictured: A woman visits her mother at a nursing home in Scotland)

A University College London study found that the risk of someone in a care home testing positive for coronavirus fell by more than half a month after their first jab

A University College London study found that the risk of someone in a care home testing positive for coronavirus fell by more than half a month after their first jab

The study examined records from 10,412 elderly care home residents from 310 care homes between December and mid-March.

It compared the rates of infection before and after vaccination to see how well the jabs stopped coronavirus.

It was not clear how the paper factored in the effects of the national lockdown, which began in early January and would have meant people had a lower risk of infection later on in the study, after many of them had been vaccinated. 

GOVERNMENT MULLING VACCINE LAW FOR CARERS 

Care home workers could be forced to get a coronavirus vaccine or quit their job, a leaked document revealed this week. 

Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock are believed to have pushed for the move amid alarm over the low take-up of jabs among care home staff. 

Figures show that only around a quarter of care homes in London and around half in other parts of England have reached ‘safe’ levels of vaccination of staff. 

A paper was submitted to the Covid-19 Operations Cabinet sub- committee last week to make jabs compulsory for care home staff, according to the Daily Telegraph.

If the measures are voted through then England’s 1.5 million workers in social care could become legally required to get a coronavirus jab. 

It presents a major departure from the Government’s previous insistence the jab would not be made mandatory.    

It is also expected to raise anger among staff, with the paper itself warning that the policy could trigger an exodus of staff and even a string of human rights lawsuits. 

The paper was drafted by the Department of Health and Social Care and is titled ‘Vaccination as a condition of deployment in adult social care and health setting’. 

The key section for care workers reads: ‘The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State [for Health] have discussed on several occasions the progress that is being made to vaccinate social care workers against Covid-19 and have agreed – in order to reach a position of much greater safety for care recipients – to put in place legislation to require vaccinations among the workforce.’

The researchers calculated the risk of infection was 56 per cent lower from four weeks after a single dose of either the Pfizer’s or AstraZeneca’s vaccine, and 62 per cent lower after five weeks.

And samples from the tests that were positive after a first dose contained less viral material, which suggests people would be less likely to pass on the virus.   

Dr Maddie Shrotri, from UCL’s Institute of Health Informatics, said: ‘Our study suggests both vaccines currently in use in the UK are effective at reducing infections in frail, older adults. 

‘This new evidence is important because there is currently limited data about vaccine efficacy for this vulnerable population.’

Vaccines did not appear to have much of an impact on residents who had already survived Covid, suggesting they had strong natural immunity. 

The authors say this early finding requires further study because only 11 per cent of the participants had previously contracted the virus.

Further research is also needed to examine how effective a first dose is after eight to 12 weeks, and the impact of a second dose.

A small number of residents (439) did not get vaccinated but still saw their risk of infection come down, which the researchers suggested could be due to a herd immunity effect from the people around them getting jabs.

Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, said about the study: ‘These data add to the growing evidence that vaccines are reducing Covid infections and doing so in vulnerable and older populations, where it is most important that we provide as much protection from Covid as possible.’

And Government care minister Helen Whately said: ‘This virus sadly has the most serious and profound effect on older people living in care homes and making sure they are protected has been our priority for the last year.

‘It is brilliant to see this is having the positive effect the science suggested, not only by preventing death, but also reducing the chance of infection.

‘This is particularly important in keeping those most at risk from the virus safe.’

The study was done with the help of the University of Birmingham and healthcare providers including Four Seasons Healthcare, HC-One, The Orders of St John Care Trust, and Friends Of The Elderly.

The study was published online at medRxiv.