In a rare case of the headlines underselling good news, yesterday's Public Health England finding that vaccination cuts transmission by up to 50% is actually much better than it sounds. 
Why? Two reasons:
The 40-50% reduction in transmission was among THOSE WHO GOT INFECTED DESPITE VACCINATION. That's already a minority of vaccinated people. Most people don't catch the virus at all after vaccination.
The 40-50% reduction in transmission was among THOSE WHO GOT INFECTED DESPITE VACCINATION. That's already a minority of vaccinated people. Most people don't catch the virus at all after vaccination.
Today's ONS study suggests 65% protection against infection after one vaccine dose, rising to 70% after two. So it's 50-60% **of the 30-35% who catch it** who can transmit it in the home. A much bigger reduction in transmission overall.
https://twitter.com/ariehkovler/status/1387340057460215812
Second point: home transmission is the riskiest. People spend most of their hours at home, sleeping, eating and sharing air in relatively small spaces.
If the vaccines are cutting infection by 65-70% and reducing home transmission of the remaining breakthrough cases by 40-50%, they're probably doing even more reduction in other settings where viral aerosols have less time to accumulate, eg shops and pubs.
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