Does the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine decrease over time? Here’s what 2 new CDC studies show.



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Two new studies published by CDC found on Tuesday that the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines had declined somewhat, but those vaccinated were still much less likely to develop Covid-19 – and particularly severe Covid-19.

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What the studies found

The first study involved more than 4,000 frontline healthcare workers in eight locations in Arizona, Florida, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Minnesota. The majority of workers had been vaccinated with PfizerBioNTech vaccine, while about a third had received Modernvaccine and 2% had received Johnson & johnsonthe vaccine of.

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In previously published data from the study, researchers found that between December 14, 2020 and April 10, 2021, Covid-19 vaccines were approximately 91% effective in preventing symptomatic and asymptomatic Covid-19.

However, since the delta variant became dominant at the sites participating in the study, vaccine efficacy has fallen to 66%, the researchers found. The updated study data ran through August 14.

In the second study, researchers looked at 43,127 infections in Los Angeles County residents aged 16 and older. They found that as of July 25, unvaccinated people were about five times more likely to be infected with the coronavirus – and 29 times more likely to be hospitalized with Covid-19 – than those who were fully vaccinated.

“The vaccines do exactly what they told us they would do”

Researchers in the first study said that although their data showed that the vaccine’s effectiveness decreased over time, “the sustained two-thirds reduction in the risk of infection underscores the importance and continued benefits of vaccination. against Covid-19 “.

Ashley Fowlkes, an epidemiologist with the CDC’s Covid-19 response team and lead author of the study, said researchers could not determine whether the decline in vaccine effectiveness was due to the increase in the delta variant or simply an indication that the effectiveness of the vaccine is decreasing. overtime.


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Fowlkes added that the drop “should be interpreted with caution” because the study’s observation period was short and the total number of infections was small.

“We really wanted to let people know that we were seeing a decline in the vaccine’s effectiveness in protecting against any infection, symptomatic or asymptomatic, since the delta variant became dominant,” she said.

“But we also want to reinforce that 66% efficiency is a really high number,” she added. “It’s not 91%, but it’s still a two-thirds reduction in the risk of infection in vaccinated participants.”

Meanwhile, Leana Wen, emergency physician and professor of public health at George Washington University, said the Los Angeles study “tells a very compelling story of the impact of vaccination on highly effective protection against serious disease and on reducing infections.” spread and increase the likelihood of major infections among those vaccinated. “

“Vaccines do exactly what they promised us to do: they keep us from getting sick and dying,” said Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles Department of Health, said, “But with the delta variant we are seeing more drivetrain than we have seen with the alpha variant.” (Joseph, STAT News, 08/24; Bank / Cancryn, Politics, 08/24; Rabin, New York Times, 8/25; Fernandez, Axes, 08/24; Coleman, The hill, 08/24; Achenbach / Nirappil, Washington post, 08/24)



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