Is the COVID-19 vaccine effective?

By William Kauffman on January 13, 2021

Yes. The Pfizer vaccine was 95% effective at preventing laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 illness in people without evidence of previous infection. Pfizer says their vaccine was still effective against lab-engineered mutations that are seen in the new variants found in the U.K. and South Africa. The Moderna vaccine has been shown to have an efficacy of 94.1%. It also appears to provide protection against the new variants, but is more effective on the U.K. variant than the one from South Africa. The company announced Jan. 25 that it is working on a vaccine booster to address new variants, which should be available by fall. Adjusting for new strains is a manageable, relatively quick undertaking thanks to the way mRNA vaccine technology works.

Sources and more information:

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/29/covid-vaccine-comparing-jnj-pfizer-moderna-novavax.html

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/12/15/946554638/fda-analysis-of-moderna-covid-19-vaccine-finds-it-effective-and-safe

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/vaccine-benefits.html