Read on Twitter
“Why would anyone take a vaccine that’s 94% effective for a disease with a 99% survival rate?”
The problem with this logic is that the 99% and 94% don’t mean the same thing. They’re not comparable statistics. 1/
The problem with this logic is that the 99% and 94% don’t mean the same thing. They’re not comparable statistics. 1/
What does 94% efficacy mean when we talk about the vaccine?
It basically means that among those in the trial who caught Covid, 94% were unvaccinated and 6% were vaccinated.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/health/covid-vaccine-95-effective.html
2/
It basically means that among those in the trial who caught Covid, 94% were unvaccinated and 6% were vaccinated.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/health/covid-vaccine-95-effective.html
2/
That’s an oversimplification of the math, but it gives the idea.
94% efficacy does NOT mean that 6% of people who were vaccinated died of Covid.
It also does not mean that 6% of the people who were vaccinated caught Covid. 3/
94% efficacy does NOT mean that 6% of people who were vaccinated died of Covid.
It also does not mean that 6% of the people who were vaccinated caught Covid. 3/
24,000 people received the vaccine in the Pfizer clinical trial. Of those, 8 caught Covid, compared with 162 people who received placebo. The relationship between those two very small fractions is the vaccine efficacy. 4/
Importantly, *none* of the 8 experienced severe disease. So if we compare apples to apples, 99.8% of unvaccinated people survive Covid infection, and 100% of vaccinated people survive Covid infection. (Admittedly! this is a tiny sample size!) 5/
This is where I remind you that not everyone in that 99% survival fraction recovers completely. Many survivors have long term nerve damage, heart damage, and other ongoing health problems. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/08/long-haulers-covid-19-recognition-support-groups-symptoms/
6/
6/
So it’s worthwhile to reduce your risk of catching the disease in the first place, even if you are pretty confident you'd survive. Most people who are in accidents survive, but that doesn’t mean you want to be in one if you can’t avoid it. 7/7
