Why COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy Does NOT Matter!

The public is obsessed over COVID-19 vaccine efficacy rates, but the truth is – they don’t actually matter!

Find out what COVID-19 vaccine efficacy really mean, and what really MATTERS MORE!

 

Vaccine Efficacy vs Effectiveness : What’s The Difference?

Vaccine efficacy is the reduction in disease (in percentage) that occurs in a vaccinated group under optimal conditions, compared to an unvaccinated group.

Do not confuse it with vaccine effectiveness, which is the real world ability of the vaccine to prevent the disease.

Vaccine effectiveness may be lowered by underlying chronic conditions, medication, age, and even how the vaccine is stored and administered.

Recommended : Overview of Vaccine Efficacy and Vaccine Effectiveness (WHO)

 

Vaccine Efficacy : What Does It Mean?

The Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines passed their Phase 3 trials with 94% to 95% efficacy rates, but what does that mean?

The efficacy rate is actually a calculation of the vaccine’s ability to prevent symptomatic COVID-19 infection, based on the clinical trial data and the COVID-19 attack rate.

The public often miss the importance of the COVID-19 attack rate, and therefore misunderstand the vaccine efficacy rate.

For example, in a trial involving 100,000 vaccinated participants and a COVID-19 attack rate of 1%, here is the difference between perception and reality :

Vaccine Efficacy	Breakthrough Infections
	Perception	Reality
95%	5,000	50
90%	10,000	100
85%	15,000	150
80%	20,000	200
75%	25,000	250

While the public look at a 75% efficacy rate and think that it means 25% of those vaccinated will still get infected, the truth is only 0.25% of those vaccinated will get infected, with a 1% attack rate.

This is why we should leave the science to the professionals, and not pretend that a few hours of looking up Google will replace years of actual study and experience.

Recommended : COVID-19 Vaccine : Which Should YOU Choose?

 

Vaccine Efficacy : How To Calculate Breakthrough Rate?

Now, you might expect the breakthrough rate to be calculated simply by deducting the efficacy rate from 100%, like so :

• 95% vaccine efficacy = 5% breakthrough infections
• 75% vaccine efficacy = 25% breakthrough infections
• 50% vaccine efficacy = 50% breakthrough infections

However, the vaccine breakthrough infection rate is actually calculated by this formula :

(100% – Vaccine Efficacy %) x Attack Rate

Because the attack rate for COVID-19 is relatively low at about 1%, the expected breakthrough rate is much lower than you would expect.

Vaccine Efficacy	Breakthrough Rate
	Perception	Reality
95%	5%	0.05%
90%	10%	0.10%
85%	15%	0.15%
80%	20%	0.20%
75%	25%	0.25%

 

Vaccine Efficacy Blinds Us To What Matters More!

The public is obsessed over COVID-19 vaccine efficacy rates, but the truth is – they don’t actually matter!

To be clear, COVID-19 vaccine efficacy is important, just not to us. That’s because it refers to the vaccine’s ability to protect against any symptomatic COVID-19 infection.

Regulatory bodies around the world set a minimum threshold of 50% efficacy against symptomatic infection for the approval of any COVID-19 vaccine.

However, that has confused many people into thinking that the authorities are taking shortcuts in giving us vaccines that barely work.

Come on – 50% efficacy? That’s like rolling the dice at the roulette table, right? That’s really NOT the case.

We prepared this table to show you how misleading efficacy rates are.

COVID-19 Vaccine	Protection Against
	Symptomatic Infection	Severe Disease	Death
Pfizer Comirnaty	95.0%	100%	100%
Gamaleya Sputnik V	91.6%	100%	100%
Moderna mRNA-1273	94.1%	100%	100%
AstraZeneca AZD1222	62% ~ 90%	100%	100%
Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV	79% ~ 86%	90%	100%
Sinovac Biotech	50.65%	83.7%	100%
J&J Janssen COVID-19	66.0%	85%	100%
CanSino Biologics	65.7%	90.98%	100%

 

Forget Efficacy, Focus On Severe Disease + Death!

The truth is all approved vaccines will protect you against severe disease, and prevent you from dying from COVID-19.

It would be really nice if you get a vaccine that protects you against even mild COVID-19, but not getting killed by it sounds pretty awesome to us!

Ultimately, whether we decide to get vaccinated should NOT depend on the vaccine’s efficacy, but its ability to protect us against severe disease or death.

Irrespective of what vaccine you receive, the table shows that they will protect you against DEATH and greatly protect you against severe COVID-19 disease.

So, instead of arguing over which COVID-19 vaccine is better, and demanding the right to choose, just take the FIRST vaccine you can get, and COMPLETE it!

Think of the COVID-19 vaccine as body armour. When you are in a firefight, do you really want to wait until you find the body armour you prefer, or would you rather wear the first one you come across?

No matter how “pathetic” or “ratty” the first body armour you find “looks” to you, it will definitely protect you better than a plain t-shirt, won’t it?

So take the first COVID-19 vaccine you are offered, and complete it. It will protect you against death and severe COVID-19 disease!

 

 

Recommended Reading

• Scam Alert : Remote Control Electricity Saver!
• Did Al Gore Say North Pole Will Be Ice-Free By 2013?
• COVID-19 Vaccine : Which Should YOU Choose?
• Official COVID-19 Vaccination Consent Form For Malaysia
• CoronaVac Vaccine By Sinovac : Your Questions Answered!
• Did Spain Halt Pfizer Vaccination After Nursing Home Deaths?

Go Back To > Science + Health | Tech ARP

 

Support Tech ARP!

Please support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or donating to our fund. Thank you!