COVID-19 vaccine benefits exaggerated, say experts 11 November 2021|COVID-19 relative risk reduction absolute risk reduction COVID-19 vaccines, AstraZeneca Pfizer The Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine John Ioannidis Peter Doshi Greg Hunt CDC vaccine trials misleading statistics https://maryannedemasi.com/publications/...ted-say-experts By Maryanne Demasi, PhD
In February, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt boasted that AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine offered “100% protection” against death in the primary analysis of phase III trials.
It was repeated by the CEO of AstraZeneca and uncritically reported by the mainstream media in what seemed to be an impressive achievement.
The published study in The Lancet, however, revealed a more nuanced picture.
In the trial of 23,848 subjects across the UK, Brazil, and South Africa, there was one death in the placebo group and no deaths in the vaccinated group.
One less death out of a total of one, indeed, was a relative reduction of 100% but the absolute reduction was 0.01%. (1/11,724 – 0/12,021)
Similarly, in February the CDC director Rochelle Walensky co-authored a publication in JAMA, which stated unequivocally:
“Clinical trials have shown that the vaccines authorized for use in the US are highly effective against COVID-19 infection, severe illness, and death.”
However, there were too few deaths recorded in the controlled trials at the time to arrive at such a conclusion. -- excerpt, rest at link above --
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."