- #491
Laroxe
Science Advisor
- 611
- 806
I think a very real issue with all the reported levels of effectiveness is that they really reflect a snapshot in time, and this snapshot is often taken when the antibody levels are at their highest. It's certainly true that the booster dose results in significantly higher antibody levels and these can offer very high levels of protection, but really this level of protection is very short term.chemisttree said:Bill, where are you getting this data? When you say that your chances of going to the ICU are 24 times less with the third dose, that is a relative risk… but relative to what? Double vaccinated or non-vaccinated?
And what does “protect well” mean?
I don’t believe that triple vaccinated folks are effectively protected 80% against getting Covid. Perhaps a relative risk is being reported?
We need to pay more attention to the longer term effects on serious disease and deaths and these will continue to vary based on age and co-morbidities, the percentages quoted give a false sense of precision. The vaccines are very effective, but the level of effectiveness is very different in people over 80 compared to a fit twenty-year-old and varies over time. Really, it's not easy to think of good ways to present data like this, and these difficulties are easily exploited by some anti vaccine groups.