‘Reasonable to cut quarantine for the vaccinated’

A public health expert at the University of Hong Kong says plans to reduce the quarantine period for vaccinated close contacts of Covid-19 patients are reasonable, as there’s a lower chance of them being infected.

In recent days, thousands of people have been put into quarantine for 21 days after infections involving a mutant strain of Covid were found in their buildings.

But sources say the government is set to announce shorter quarantine periods for people who have been vaccinated.

Speaking on RTHK’s Backchat programme, epidemiologist Benjamin Cowling said the risk of becoming infected is much lower for people who have had Covid jabs.

“We’ve heard some experts saying that incubation period [for vaccinated people] may be the same if you get infected, that’s true, but the risk of getting infected in the first place is much lower. So you can kind of balance out the risk,” he said.

However, virologist Professor Leo Poon urged caution, saying the level of antibodies in vaccinated people should be checked, being as they could still be infected.

“Some people don’t have a good response after getting vaccinated and they can still be infected, so we must be careful and find this group of people,” he said.