Older people should not kiss their grandchildren, even if they have received a second dose of a coronavirus vaccine, an expert said today.
Professor Anthony Harnden, vice president of the Joint Vaccines and Immunization Committee (JCVI), said it may not be safe to break the rules of social distance even after taking two doses.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today program, Professor Harnden was asked by a listener if he was allowed to kiss his schoolchildren, with the JCVI vice president answering “no”.
“You need to be very careful and remember that even after the second dose of the vaccine, it is not necessarily 100 percent effective,” he said.
“At the moment, we still need to be cautious and obey the rules and I don’t think kissing grandchildren is allowed.”
Professor Harnden added that while the vaccine offers protection against serious illnesses, how much protection it generally offers remains unknown.
“Well, it will offer very good protection against serious illness and hospitalization, but we still don’t know how much protection it will offer against asymptomatic infections,” he said.
A survey conducted by Public Health Scotland found that four weeks after the first dose, hospital admissions were reduced by 94 percent for the AstraZeneca jab.
The Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were found to have 95 percent and 94.5 percent efficacies, respectively.
Government advisers said the UK’s vaccine program should continue to be age-based, with those in their 40s expected to receive a vaccine in weeks.
Professor Harnden’s comments come at a time when Sage scientist Susan Michie warned that people can follow blocking restrictions less strictly after being vaccinated against the coronavirus.
She told BBC Radio 4 Today: “The concern is that as the vaccination program develops and more people are being vaccinated and seeing other people in their community being vaccinated, these people may let their guard down.
She said the evidence comes from launches of vaccines against Lyme disease and influenza, where vaccinees were less likely to adhere to preventive behaviors.
In national polls in December, about 29% of people said that after being vaccinated they would follow the rules less strictly and 11% said they would not follow the rules.