Re:Europe's Vaccine Disaster
by tsimionescu on Saturday January 30, 2021 @08:07AM
(#25968737)
There seems to be a major flaw in comparing the data between the two studies: the Pfizer paper is counting Covid19 cases (symptomatic cases with confirmed PCR for SARS-CoV-2), while the Maccabi paper seems to be counting SARS-CoV-2 infections overall, which would include asymptomatic cases.
They even say so explicitly:
> Second, our case definition was positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test irrespective to presenting symptoms that defined COVID-19 cases in the RCT. This might explain the discrepancy in results.
So, this new research is not really contradicting the Pfizer paper in any way - they are simply measuring different quantities.
Still, it's nice to know that the vaccine also offers protection from infection, not just the disease.
They even say so explicitly:
> Second, our case definition was positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test irrespective to presenting symptoms that defined COVID-19 cases in the RCT. This might explain the discrepancy in results.
So, this new research is not really contradicting the Pfizer paper in any way - they are simply measuring different quantities.
Still, it's nice to know that the vaccine also offers protection from infection, not just the disease.