People are preparing to meet friends and family as soon as they are vaccinated in the mistaken belief they are “good to go”, a leading government adviser is warning.
Surveys point to a “day or two before the Armistice” effect, Dr David Halpern said – with people wrongly thinking they and others immediately have Covid-19 protection.
“We definitely do worry that people feel that, the second they have got that vaccination, they are good to go,” the Sage adviser told MPs.
“People are going to be over-confident, too fast on the vaccine,” Dr Halpern added.
In fact, it was “at least 12 days, 2 weeks” before a jab delivered any immunity – and scientists still do not know if it will prevent transmission, or merely becoming ill.
The warning came as Sage is urging ministers to begin a public awareness campaign to stress the need to follow restrictions, after the number of people vaccinated topped 4 million.
Asked, by the Commons public administration committee, if he feared people will “let their guard down”, Dr Halpern replied: “Absolutely right on that.”
Professor Stephen Reicher, who also sits on the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group, which feeds into Sage, agreed, saying: “Yes, there are dangers.
“Some people think the effect of the vaccine is absolutely immediate. Some people believe that you can’t transmit the disease – and there is a lack of clarity on that from the medical community.”
Dr Halpern said its research suggested people would continue to follow instructions to wash their hands and remain two metres apart from others.
“The thing that moves quite dramatically is how often are you going to see other people,” he added.
“People feel, as soon as they have got that vaccination, ‘Fantastic, I’m going to be able to go out’. You hear people on vox pops doing this.”
Professor Reicher also said government blunders in the Covid-19 response would have been avoided if ministers had trusted the public – instead of “blaming” it for rule breaches.
The “dangerous and misleading concept” of ‘lockdown fatigue’ was wrong – because people have, throughout the crisis, been ready to accept even-tougher restrictions.
“There has been a tendency to blame the public….for the difficulties we’re having and for the rise in infections,” he told the committee.
He added: “It’s led us to delayed action such that – by the time we have to take action – the situation is even worse and we have to do more, and we have to do it for longer.
“On the whole, the public is not a weak link in this pandemic, it actually has been a strong link – and I think a bit more confidence in the public is extremely important and might lead to some better decisions.”
Professor Reicher also pointed to poor government communications, saying 96 per cent of people understood the original ‘stay home’ instruction – but the only 31 per cent understood the ‘stay alert’ message that replaced it.
