Will self isolation end once all adults have been offered 2 doses?

[nancysblush]

Surely it can’t carry on forever, so will this be when it ends?

I read that as being about Will Self and couldn't quite make sense of the title!

I don't think the need for isolation will end, will it? We can still spread it even when double jabbed.

It depends what the cases are like; certainly it could end at some point. When we reach herd immunity where cases plummet, then yes. If we vaccinate teenagers, certainly.

I wonder this too. The impact on school children and staff and their families is massive. Constant isolation periods. Many I know have isolated up to ten times in the past year.

No, I don't think so - the two aren't really linked. There will always be vulnerable people who can't have a vaccine for whatever reason, or people who don't seem to hold any immunity from the vaccine, for example people who have had some types of blood cancer.

It'll end at some point, it'll have to, but I don't think all adults being offered two doses will trigger it.

I think once adults have been fully vaccinated it’s going to be hard to justify carrying on with self isolating. It’s different when you are doing it to protect the vulnerable, but once this factor has been removed where’s the incentive?

Self isolation will still be needed

Surely it has to end at some point? We can’t keep doing this can we?
When COVID is killing less people than the flu it would make no sense to have isolation just for being in a classroom or office with someone who had it but no isolation for people with flu..?

I believe some countries no longer require vaccinated people to self isolate for close contact with a positive case. I'd say that was a more realistic way to go and also a good way to promote vaccination.

Isolation with symptoms (until negative) or a positive test should continue longer than isolation after contact imo. Schools can’t carry on like this next academic year, it’s ridiculous!

Lots of people seem to think it can carry on forever

It will have to end at some point, but god knows when. I’m not particularly worried about catching covid myself but I’d feel strange knowing I was sat next to someone who has it and isn’t isolating.

Maybe it will go down the test at home everyday route ?
I’m currently on a PHE study/trial , our adult son tested positive last week (he is still isolating )
We are allowed to go out to work / or for essential purposes providing we have had a negative LTF test that day that we upload , We also had to have a negative PCR test too. This is a week long study. With another PCR test at the end of the week too.

Isolating with symptoms or after a positive test is different to contacts self isolating. I hope that self isolation for asymptomatic contacts will soon stop. I think they’re trialling regular testing for contacts instead?

It's going to have to at some point, we can't live like this forever. At some point we will have to accept that we might catch Covid and deal with it in the same way we deal with flu or a cold which can be serious or fatal for some people.

And no, I'm not comparing Covid to flu or a cold!

Depends what you mean by it? People who have covid symptoms or test positive should of course continue self-isolating so they don't spread it! Not that many bother with other illnesses but hopefully this year has taught everyone something about not going to the office when you're contagious with a bad cold or a stomach bug.

Yes it makes sense for positive cases to isolate but not contacts, similar to chicken pox where dc stay at home until scabbed over, but the whole year group doesn’t go home.

I think self isolation with symptoms might continue but isolation of contacts should stop.

@nex18

Isolating with symptoms or after a positive test is different to contacts self isolating. I hope that self isolation for asymptomatic contacts will soon stop. I think they’re trialling regular testing for contacts instead?

Well, we have no symptoms and on the trial , obviously if we had symptoms we wouldn’t have gone on it or continued on it.

Yes it makes sense for positive cases to isolate but not contacts

I was referring solely to positive cases above - I’d agree contacts will have to stop.

I really hope they bring in lateral flow tests for asymptomatic close contacts .. I’d happily test myself & family every morning before school if it meant we didn’t have to continually isolate!

I think this is being trialled at the moment, I’m sure I read it was!

I think SI for those who test positive will endure (just like you still have to quarantine for measles)

How far contacts have to isolate will probably reduce over time, based on the actual numbers.

Maybe not this year (or maybe it will be) but at some point in the not too distant future I would imagine that not only will close contacts isolating stop, but so will actual testing unless someone is extremely unwell. We didn't test (and isolate until the result is back) for every cough or temperature in case it was the flu (yeah I know covid isn't the flu, but hopefully we'll be treating it in a similar way at some point), so why would we be doing that for covid once everyone (that can and wants it) has been vaccinated?
I would imagine testing would end up being confined to people being admitted to hospital, much in the same way as they test for mrsa or gbs

I’m not isolating again unless I actually have a positive test myself.

Chicken pox requires a certain amount of quarantine I would expect COVID to remain the same. I would be happy actually for it to be household quarantine for 10 days.

Beyond that I think it has to end - DD is on the last day of a 10 day period of self isolation from school. None of the others has a positive test. I think there are trials for LFTs every day as a way through this. Or EOD perhaps if in close contact

but once this factor has been removed where’s the incentive?

Checking the vaccines are performing as predicted. Real world performance data needs to be collated before it can be trusted with a high degree of certainty.

My prediction is that testing and isolations will remain in place till we’re past next winter (so spring 2022) and will gradually pull back till the bulk of surveillance and analysis is pulled from hospital and GP data. That’s dependent on whether the vaccines perform as predicted and what happens globally.