New Clinical Trials Show Vaccine Effectiveness Varies Around the World
Recent trials for theĀ Covid-19 vaccine from Novavax have shown that its effectivity varies around the world, based on local variants of the virus. Those trials found it to be 89.3% effective in a clinical trial conducted in the UK, but showed that it was far less effective in South Africa. The news has sparked fears that the coronavirus is quickly finding ways to elude the vaccine.
The effectiveness of this vaccine was only 49% in South Africa. Most infections that were analyzed there involved the B.1.351 variant that emerged there late last year in the country. Since then it spread to the United States and at least 30 other countries. Novavax said it was planning to start development of a vaccine specifically targeting the variant identified in South Africa.
Other vaccines have also showed similar fluctuations in effectiveness. Johnson & Johnson announced Friday that its new shot was 72% effective against preventing moderate or severe illness in the United States, compared with 66% in Latin America and 57% in South Africa.
“From an evolutionary biology perspective, this is totally expected and anticipated,” said Dr. Michael Mina, a Harvard epidemiologist, as per Los Angeles Times. “But it never feels good to be validated on something so scary.ā
With the virus evolving around the world and the varying effectiveness of the vaccines, some experts are also seeing a positive side of these clinical trials results. “It tells us that though new variants are occurring, and of course they will continue to occur, this is the nature of the virus, it does not necessarily mean that they will have a significant impact on our vaccines,” Heath said during a press briefing for the UK’s Science Media Centre, CNN writes.
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For every 75,000 people,
The typical flu season virus (via CDC):
ā¢ Hospitalizes more than 100
ā¢ Kills 5-15
COVID virus to the unvaccinated (via NYTimes data):
ā¢ Hospitalizes several hundred
ā¢ Kills 150
COVID virus to the vaccinated (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Novavax, OR Johnson & Johnson):
ā¢ Hospitalized a few
ā¢ Killed ZERO
The real point here is that those efficacy numbers are not what you think. They have to count even a mild sniffle, which reduces their efficacy rate. This is the data you need to hear. It doesn’t matter which vaccine you get. They all will save your life. Even against the most contagious South African variant.
Stinks that the vaccines are less effective against the S. Africa variant. We were dreaming about doing another safari in Sabi Sands when travel opens up again. But it might make more sense for us to wait a bit longer for more widespread inoculation to get to some herd immunity established first.
Was supposed to be heading to Cape Town at the end of this month so I feel your pain for sure š
I don’t think the virus is “quickly finding ways to elude the vaccine”. That makes it sound like the virus is a sentient being that knows what is going on around the world. The South African variant emerged in an area of the world that still has yet to begin any vaccination whatever, so the virus can hardly be quickly evading the process that it has yet to encounter. These variants emerge from severely immunocompromised patients that are kept alive for months in ICUs around the world and become incubators for new strains. I’m not intimating that they shouldn’t be but by the very nature of being a long term host for the virus many generations are able to replicate and mutations are able to thrive and escape into the wild. This pandemic will not end quickly nor quietly. And, as the capital of Amazonia, Manaus, has recently proven, herd immunity may indeed be impossible with this coronavirus because of its very nature. The countries that have “beaten the virus” will suffer as the virus has likely jumped to another species and will jump back to humans with a vengeance. Sadly we are in this one for the long-haul. We seem to have developed vaccines that keep us from perishing from this scourge it is indeed a miracle. We need to learn better earth hygiene habits so that fewer of these bugs surface and terrorize, or if lab constructed destroy them and those who thought they could play God.
50% was the original target set by Fauci. We have been spoiled with 90%+ for first 2 vaccines. Even at these levels it would make a huge difference and there will be boosters or follow up vaccines to increase the percentage. No need to wait though since it will still make a big difference. There is an old saying about not letting perfect be the enemy of good