Pfizer Vax Only 42% Effective: Mayo Clinic

Pfizer/BioNTech gene-based vaccine showing “pronounced reduction in effectiveness.”

QUICK FACTS:
  • New medical research conducted by scientists with the Mayo Clinic and Nference analyzed Covid-19 “breakthrough infections and persistent emergence of new variants.”
  • Researchers compared the effectiveness of mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech in the Mayo Clinic Health System from January to July 2021.
  • Moderna’s gene-based vaccine dropped 10 percentage points in July (from 86% effectiveness down to 76%).
  • But the Pfizer vaccine only showed 42% effectiveness in July, down from 76%.
  • “Those numbers are fairly significant drop-offs from the rest of the year,” comments RT.
  • The authors recommend “further evaluation of mechanisms underlying differences in [both mRNA vaccines’] effectiveness such as dosing regimens and vaccine composition are warranted.”
  • “Although it has yet to be peer-reviewed, the study raises serious questions about both vaccines’ long-term effectiveness, particularly Pfizer’s,” Axios notes.
WHAT A BIDEN OFFICIAL SAID:
  • “If that’s not a wakeup call, I don’t know what is,” a senior Biden official told Axios.
THE AUTHOR’S REASON FOR THE STUDY:
  • “Although clinical trials and real-world studies have affirmed the effectiveness and safety of the FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines, reports of breakthrough infections and persistent emergence of new variants highlight the need to vigilantly monitor the effectiveness of these vaccines,” the authors write.
HOW THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED:
  • “Here we compare the effectiveness of two full-length Spike protein-encoding mRNA vaccines from Moderna (mRNA-1273) and Pfizer/BioNTech (BNT162b2) in the Mayo Clinic Health System over time from January to July 2021, during which either the Alpha or Delta variant was highly prevalent,” they go on to say.
  • “We defined cohorts of vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals from Minnesota (n = 25,589 each) matched on age, sex, race, history of prior SARS-CoV-2 PCR testing, and date of full vaccination.”
THE RESULTS:
  • The authors agree that, “Both vaccines were highly effective during this study period against SARS-CoV-2 infection (mRNA-1273: 86%, 95%CI: 81-90.6%; BNT162b2: 76%, 95%CI: 69-81%) and COVID-19 associated hospitalization (mRNA-1273: 91.6%, 95% CI: 81-97%; BNT162b2: 85%, 95% CI: 73-93%).”
  • However, while “[i]n July, vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization has remained high (mRNA-1273: 81%, 95% CI: 33-96.3%; BNT162b2: 75%, 95% CI: 24-93.9%),” nevertheless, “effectiveness against infection was lower for both vaccines (mRNA-1273: 76%, 95% CI: 58-87%; BNT162b2: 42%, 95% CI: 13-62%), with a more pronounced reduction for BNT162b2.”
BACKGROUND:
  • There has been no data so far that has found either vaccine’s protection against severe disease and death is significantly less against Delta, notes Axios.
  • “Concerns about the long-term effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines have mounted in recent weeks as health officials have repeatedly warned about a potential surge of cases in the fall,” writes RT.

Jon Fleetwood is Managing Editor for American Faith.


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