As the U.K. government prepares to jettison most pandemic restrictions in England, British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he has tested positive for COVID-19 Saturday though his symptoms are mild.
Javid added that he was self-isolating and that he was thankful to have had had the two doses of vaccine against the disease.
Javid, who has been health secretary for three weeks, has backed Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan to scrap all remaining legal coronavirus restrictions from Monday, despite a fresh surge of cases fuelled by the highly transmissible delta variant, that was first seen in
"This morning I tested positive for COVID," Javid said in a tweet, adding he had taken a rapid lateral flow test, and was awaiting confirmation from a PCR test, which needs processing in a laboratory.
"I'm waiting for my PCR result, but thankfully I have had my jabs and symptoms are mild."
Javid tweeted on March 17 that he had received a first shot of Oxford/AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, posting a picture of him getting a second dose on May 16.
Vaccines are not 100% effective at preventing infection, but fully-vaccinated people are less likely to get seriously ill with COVID-19 even if they test positive.
Real-world analysis published by Public Health England has found that two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are 60% effective against symptomatic disease from the delta variant and 92% effective against hospitalization.
Britain is facing a new wave of cases of COVID-19, but Johnson and Javid claim the vaccine program has largely broken the link between COVID-19 cases and mortality, although Johnson has said that the country should reconcile itself to the prospect of more deaths from COVID-19.
Britain has the seventh-highest COVID-19 death toll globally and has fully vaccinated two-thirds of adults, although it is not vaccinating children.
Some scientists have warned that the government's reopening plans for England are dangerous given the significant number of people who remain unvaccinated and the fact that vaccines are not 100% effective.
