Pfizer, Moderna vaccines 94% effective – CDC study

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday stated that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were found to be 94 per cent effective in health care workers.

CDC said in a statement that mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) were found to reduce the risk of getting sick with COVID-19 by 94 per cent among Health Care Personnel (HCP) who were fully vaccinated.

This assessment, conducted in a different study network with a larger sample size from across a broader geographic area than in the clinical trials, independently confirms the U.S. vaccines.

The interim study results released on Friday further supported previous data on the effectiveness of the two vaccines, which use mRNA technology and have been widely administered in the U.S.

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The researchers estimated that those who were fully vaccinated were 94 per cent less likely to develop symptomatic COVID-19, while people who were partially vaccinated were 82 per cent less likely.

The CDC highlighted that the sample size reached a broader geographic area than the clinical trials, providing more evidence for the effectiveness.

The statement quoted CDC Director, Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, as saying, “This report provided the most compelling information to date that COVID-19 vaccines were performing as expected in the real world.

“This study, added to the many studies that preceded it, was pivotal to CDC changing its recommendations for those who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.”

The statement further said the findings supported CDC’s recommendation that everyone should get both doses of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine to get the most protection.

This assessment is part of CDC’s comprehensive strategy of using complementary methods to understand how COVID-19 vaccines are working in different populations and real-world settings.

On May 12, CDC expanded COVID-19 vaccination recommendations to include adolescents 12 years through 15 years of age under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Emergency Use Authorisation.

These adolescents are now authorised to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

CDC has several surveillance networks that will continue to assess how well FDA-authorised COVID-19 vaccines are working in real-world conditions in people of different age groups, including children and adolescents.