Lower Efficacy News Today

The Atlantic Yes, all of the COVID-19 vaccines are very good. No, they’re not all the same. Adam Maida / Getty / The Atlantic Public-health officials are enthusiastic about the new, single-shot COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, despite its having a somewhat lower efficacy at preventing symptomatic illness than other available options. Although clinical-trial data peg that rate at 72 percent in the United States, compared with 94 and 95 percent for the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccin...

Michael Ciaglo / Getty Last spring and summer, when a COVID-19 vaccine was only a glimmer of hope on the horizon, scientists warned in their careful way that vaccines might not live up to the public’s high expectations. The FDA said a vaccine needed to be just 50 percent effective. The most important thing, scientists told me, was that the vaccines at least protect against severe illness. Then, in the fall, data from the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine trials demonstrated 95 percent and 94 percent...