FOI Reference: FOI/2022/3469
You asked
I was just wondering when reporting the effectiveness of protection against Covid-19 from the vaccine if the protection stated is relative protection or actual protection?
We said
Thank you for your request.
The COVID-19 Infection Survey is a household survey that estimates the number of people testing positive for infection and for antibodies in the UK. Our statistics refer to the number of current COVID-19 infections within the population living in private residential households. We exclude those in hospitals, care homes and/or other communal establishments. In communal establishments, rates of COVID-19 infection are likely to be different.
You may be interested in our technical article about vaccine effectiveness: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey Technical Article: Impact of vaccination on testing positive in the UK: October 2021. Throughout the analysis, risk ratios presented are relative to the reference group: those not yet vaccinated or 21 days or more before their first vaccination without evidence of prior infection.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA, formerly Public Health England) are responsible for government testing and vaccination data for the population. For any queries regarding their analysis, you can contact UKHSA via email at informationrights@ukhsa.gov.uk.
Further information and an overview of data about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and other sources can be found in our Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest insights tool.