ArchivesWorldWhy can’t you compare Covid-19 vaccines?

Why can’t you compare Covid-19 vaccines?

-

In early March more than 6200 doses of the new one do Covid-19 vaccine from Johnson and Johnson were supposed to be transported to the city of Detroit, Michigan. The Mayor, saying,” Moderna and Pfizer are best”, refused the shipment of the vaccines.

A vaccine’s efficacy rate is calculated in large clinical trials when the vaccine is tested on tens and thousands of people, these people are broken into two groups, half get a vaccine and half get a placebo. Then they are sent out to live their lives, while scientists monitor whether or not they get Covid -19 over several months. In the trial for Pfizer/BioNTech for example, there were 43,000 participants.

In the end, 170 people were infected with Covid-19. And how those people fall into each of these groups determines a vaccine’s efficacy. If the 170 people were evenly split, that you are just as likely to get sick with the vaccine as without it, so it would have 0% efficacy.  If all 170 were in the placebo group and zero people who got the vaccine were sick, the vaccine would have an efficacy of 100%.

With this particular trial, there were 162 in the placebo group and just 8 in the vaccine group. It means those who have the vaccine were 95% less likely to get Covid-19. The vaccine had a 95% efficacy. Now, this doesn’t mean that if 100 people are vaccinated, 5 of them will get sick. Instead, that 95% number applies to the individual. So each vaccinated person is 95% less likely than a person without a vaccine, to get sick, each time they are exposed to Covid-19.

“Any vaccine you’re offered right now is the best vaccine. With each shot that goes into someone’s arm we get closer to the end of this pandemic”, says Deborah H Fueller, a researcher from the University of Wisconsin System.

Text by: Sreyoshi Sil, IBTN9


Follow IBTN9

Facebook:

Instagram

Latest

Is Sustainability the Key to Profitability for Modern Businesses?

In today’s fast-evolving market, businesses are discovering that sustainability can boost more than just their environmental image—it’s a powerful...

How AI is Transforming Small Business Operations in 2025

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping how small businesses operate, offering powerful tools that enable even the smallest companies...

Bibek Debroy: The Visionary Economist Who Bridged Tradition and Modernity

The recent passing of Bibek Debroy on October 18, 2023, has left an irreplaceable void in India’s intellectual and...

Almost Famous Podcast – Sudip Mukherjee X Utsav – EP03

Welcome to the Almost Famous Podcast (Episode 3) in conversation with eminent Bengali film and television actor Sudip Mukherjee...
- Sponsored -spot_imgspot_img

The Dark Secrets of Electric Cars: Sustainability in Question

Electric cars have been hailed as the saviors of our planet, promising to reduce emissions, combat climate change, and...

The Future of Sustainability in Business & Why its Indispensable

In this article, we're going to explore the future of sustainability in business. We'll talk about the challenges businesses...

Must read

Is Sustainability the Key to Profitability for Modern Businesses?

In today’s fast-evolving market, businesses are discovering that sustainability...

How AI is Transforming Small Business Operations in 2025

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping how small businesses...
- Sponsored -spot_imgspot_img

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you