Vaccines prevent 97% of Covid infections from Indian variant, scientist claims

The coronavirus vaccines are 97 per cent effective against infection from the Indian variant, a scientist has claimed.

The lead researcher behind a study on healthcare workers in India said those given one dose of AstraZeneca's jab enjoyed 97.38 per cent protection from infection.

Their risk of being hospitalised with the strain was just 0.06 per cent, according to the research at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Delhi.

Public Health England estimates the vaccines can prevent about 70 per cent of transmission against the Kent variant, based on real-world data from Britain's vaccine rollout.

Less is known about how well the jabs will work on the Indian variant because the UK has only recorded 1,313 cases. But the Government has said it is not aware of anyone who has died from the strain after being given both jabs.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed over the weekend that, of the 18 people hospitalised with the variant in hotspot Bolton, just one person was fully vaccinated, although most were eligible.

Mr Hancock said the fully-vaccinated patient had been 'very frail' and therefore vulnerable to infection. Another five of the patients had only received their first jab.

Meanwhile, a SAGE member today said that data from lab studies into the effectiveness of vaccines on the new strain were 'rather promising'.

Sir John Bell, from the University of Oxford which is conducting the research, said the new variant appeared to slightly reduce the ability to neutralise the virus, but added that it was 'not very great'.

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