A guide to COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness

If you walk overmuch clip connected societal media, you’ve astir apt seen posts with questionable accusation astir COVID-19 vaccines.

A subordinate of Congress precocious compared vaccine requirements to expecting everyone to instrumentality a Tylenol successful bid to marque her headache better, implying that if you support yourself, different people’s decisions are irrelevant. Others person taken spun quality astir “breakthrough” infections among vaccinated radical arsenic grounds that nary 1 should fuss getting the shot.

Reality is simply a small much complicated, and it doesn’t marque a precise bully meme.

The Denver Post compiled answers to questions astir vaccines, breakthrough infections and what it each means for you.

I’ve work that the vaccines’ effectiveness has fallen. Should I beryllium worried?

Short answer: not really, unless you’re astatine precocious hazard for terrible illness, successful which lawsuit you mightiness see getting a booster.

A survey released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recovered that portion the Moderna vaccine continued to trim the likelihood of terrible illness by much than 90% 4 months aft the 2nd shot, the Pfizer vaccine fell from 91% effectiveness to 77%. There wasn’t capable information to archer if thing changed for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which was 71% effectual astatine the beginning.

Keep successful mind, that’s inactive good supra the 50% efficacy that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it would see capable for authorizing a vaccine past year, and amended than the seasonal flu vaccine, said Dr. Lisa Miller, subordinate dean astatine Colorado School of Public Health.

“It does really, truly well” astatine preventing terrible disease, she said.

Some people, understandably, instrumentality a 77% effectiveness complaint to mean that if they got the Pfizer vaccine, they present person a 23% accidental of ending up successful the hospital. But that’s not what those numbers mean.

What they’re saying is that successful a emblematic radical of 100 radical with COVID-19, astir 77 of them are going to beryllium unvaccinated and 23 volition beryllium breakthrough cases. Breakthroughs thin to origin little terrible illness, though, truthful the likelihood that those 23 volition retrieve without needing intensive attraction are importantly better.

If vaccinated radical tin inactive get the virus, wherefore should I bother?

The immense bulk of breakthrough infections don’t origin superior illness. An outbreak during summertime festivities successful Provincetown, Mass., infected much than 1,000 people, including much than 700 who were vaccinated — but lone seven radical were hospitalized, and nary 1 has died.

In the archetypal week of September, Colorado had astir 17 hospitalizations for each 100,000 unvaccinated people, and astir 3 hospitalizations for each 100,000 vaccinated people, meaning the likelihood of superior unwellness were astir five times lower if you’re vaccinated. The likelihood of investigating positive, with symptoms oregon without, were astir 3 times lower.

That said, your idiosyncratic hazard of a much terrible breakthrough corruption is higher if you’re implicit 65 oregon person a chronic condition, particularly 1 that affects your immune system. That’s wherefore the CDC recommended those groups see getting a booster shot, if they’re six months retired from their 2nd Pfizer shot.

If vaccinated radical are truthful good protected, wherefore should they attraction if others don’t get the shot?

While the vaccine offers important protection, older radical and those with compromised immune systems whitethorn not make beardown protection, Miller said. And of course, children nether 12 inactive can’t beryllium vaccinated and whitethorn person small prime astir who they’re exposed to, she said.

And if capable unvaccinated radical get sick that infirmary intensive-care units statesman to capable up, that affects vaccinated radical who request those beds for different reasons, whether it’s a stroke, a car accident, oregon adjacent arsenic a backup if they person complications from surgery.

“With an infectious disease, your prime tin interaction me,” Miller said.