Johnson & Johnson: Why Less-Effective Vaccines Are Valuable
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 efficacy, respectively, against all symptomatic infections. They smashed expectations—and created...
Source: theatlantic.com