COVID-19 Infection Risk Three Times Lower If Just One Family Member Gets Vaccine - Expert

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st August, 2021) Just a single family member vaccinated against the coronavirus significantly lowers the risks of contracting COVID-19 for other members of the family, infectious disease expert Evgeny Timakov told Sputnik.

"One vaccinated person in a family reduces the risk of other family members being infected with COVID by three times," Timakov said.

He added that although a vaccinated individual can still shed the virus when infected, the amount is significantly lower than that shed by an unvaccinated person with COVID-19, moreover, the virus is less active and does not mutate.

In mid-July, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that only around 2.5 percent of those vaccinated contract the coronavirus and no hospitalization is needed in 95 percent of those cases.

At the end of last week, Murashko announced that around 35 million Russians had already received the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said last week that the current pace of the coronavirus vaccination worldwide will not stop the pandemic by the end of 2022.