As part of Step 4 of the Government’s COVID-19 roadmap,
double vaccinated people will no longer be legally required
to self-isolate if they are identified as a close contact
of a positive COVID-19 case, the Health and Social Care
Secretary has confirmed today (Tuesday 6 July).
The new rules will come into effect from 16 August, if the
Government takes a decision to move into Step 4. To ensure
young people can make the most of their education as
restrictions continue to ease, the Government also plans to
exempt those aged under 18 from self-isolation if they are
a close contact.
Introducing this exemption in August will enable even more
people to have received both doses of the vaccine,
significantly reducing the risk of severe illness and
providing the fullest protection possible for people across
the country. The NHS COVID-19 app will update in August in
line with the new guidance on self-isolation for close
contacts.
Young people and double vaccinated individuals identified
as close contacts will continue to be advised to take a PCR
test, to detect the virus and variants of concern. Anyone
who tests positive following the PCR test will still be
legally required to self-isolate, irrespective of their
vaccination status.
Vaccine programme
The phenomenal success of the UK’s vaccine programme – with
over 86% of adults receiving their first doses – has
allowed the government to continue easing restrictions and
to remove self-isolation rules for double jabbed people,
and move from a rules-based system to personal
responsibility. The latest data shows that 27,000 lives
have already been saved by COVID-19 vaccines and over 7
million infections prevented, with vaccines reducing the
chance of COVID-19 infection by almost 80% after two doses
and only 35% after one.
As of 6 July, over 79 million vaccine doses have now been
administered in the UK, and three in five adults have
received two doses. To continue to receive the fullest
possible protection against COVID-19, all adults are
encouraged to get their vaccine.
Health and Social Care Secretary told
Parliament:
Asking people with COVID-19 and their close contacts to
self-isolate has played a critical role in helping us get
this virus under control, and I’m so grateful to the
millions of people across the UK who have made sacrifices
to keep the virus at bay.
Thanks to the UK’s phenomenal vaccine programme and the
huge wall of defence, we can safely take steps to reduce
self-isolation for people who are fully vaccinated, and
those aged under 18, and instead advise people to take a
PCR test. Positive cases will still need to self-isolate.
Step-by-step, and jab-by-jab, we’re replacing the
temporary protection of the restrictions, with the
long-term protection of a vaccine.
Regular testing remains critical to controlling the virus
as restrictions ease. Advising double vaccinated contacts
and children to take a PCR test with a requirement to
self-isolate for those who test positive will reduce the
risk of onward transmission. Alongside PCR testing,
everyone in England is encouraged to take up the
government’s offer of free, twice weekly rapid testing.
As with fully vaccinated adults, children who are close
contacts of a positive case will instead be advised to take
a PCR test. If the PCR test is positive they will need to
self-isolate, as any other positive case.
Robust protective measures are in place across schools,
including twice weekly testing to protect students and
prevent transmission. NHS Test and trace will continue to
provide age appropriate advice for testing in schools in
the coming months.
The Government will make an announcement on whether the UK
will move into Step 4 of the COVID-19 roadmap on 12th July
on the basis of its four tests
Children who are aged under 5 years old who are identified
as close contacts would only be advised to take a PCR test
if the positive case is in their own household.
If someone gets their second dose just before, or after,
the 16th of August, they’ll need to wait until two weeks
after they get the second jab to benefit from these new
freedoms so the vaccine has time to build the maximum
possible protection.
