Self-isolation for double-jabbed people in close contact with Covid case scrapped
Double-jabbed people who have been in close contact with a positive Covid case will no longer have to go through self-isolation after 16 August.
Children under the age of 18 will also no longer have to self-isolate from this date, health secretary Sajid Javid announced today.
Javid said people who have been double-jabbed will be urged to still take a PCR test if alerted by NHS Test and Trace and will still have to go into self-isolation if they test positive.
People who have their second vaccine “just before or just after” 16 August will have to wait for two weeks for the advice to apply to them.
“Both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine can reduce symptomatic infection by almost 80 per cent,” Javid said.
“That protective wall, because that’s what it is, means the odds have shifted in our favour and we can look afresh at many of the measures we’ve had to put in place.
“We will soon be able to take a risk-based approach, recognising the huge benefits the vaccines provide for those who get the jab and their loved ones too.”
Javid added that children under the age of 18 will no longer have to self-isolate from 16 August and will be “given advice on whether they should get tested dependent on their age and will need to self-isolate only if they test positive”.
John Foster, CBI director of policy, said: “Developing a more agile and responsive test & release system for self-isolation will help give firms greater confidence in being able to plan for the future.
“Rapid testing availability means it’s right to relax self-isolation rules, which is critical as cases increase. This important change will lead to less disruption for employers and employees alike, particularly for sectors which have been operating under restrictions the longest,” he added.
The new advice comes despite some studies showing that two doses of Pfizer only has 64 per cent effectiveness against the now dominant Delta variant.
High-profile BBC presenter Andrew Marr said he had fallen very ill with Covid just weeks ago, despite being double jabbed.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “We know from outbreaks in Israel and research that the Delta variant can be transmitted through fully vaccinated people even if they themselves don’t get sick.
“So releasing controls on transmission will impact hospital admissions.