I have been vaccinated twice (AstraZeneca) and had the booster (Pfizer), and believe that everyone should get vaccinated.
On the other hand the situation with Pfizer is that they have been prevaricating on releasing their data from a freedom of information request, so much so that the trickle of documents would at their pace of release take 70 years. A judge in the USA Texas Fort Worth on the 6th January ordered Pfizer to release the first 12000 pages by the 31st January and thereafter 55000 pages every 30 days the first due by date of 1st March 2022, (possible heavily redacted citing privilege, exemption or exclusion).
I have a problem with understanding what numbers really mean so I investigated a bit. You would think that with an efficacy of 90% that if 100 people get the virus then 10% won't get sick. Errr No.
(apologies if this has been covered earlier in the thread)
The Pfizer data is from 43444 participants, half controlled (placebo) and the other half (intervention)
Of - 21769 there were 9 cases of sick patients (intervention), Case rate 0.04%
Of - 21769 there were 85 cases of sick patients (placebo), Case rate 0.39%
The figure of 90% efficacy is calculated as the difference between the cases i.e., 85 minus 9 divided by 85 = 90%.
Which makes complete sense. Of those who would have caught the disease, only 10% do so.
The number of people needed to treat (NNT) is in this case is calculated as the absolute difference between these two numbers is 0.39% minus 0.04% = 0.35%. The NNT is calculated as 100 divided by the absolute difference. In this example that is 100 divided by 0.35% = 286. At the time of the first Pfizer press release, it was known that 286 people would need to be treated for 1 person to avoid being a Covid-19 case.
This makes little sense in terms of useful information.
That number is only so high because the base rate of infection during the study period was so low.
Here "treated" means "given either the placebo or vaccine", so effectively means "exist in the population".
And of course assuming the placebo infection rate is the true
current infection rate. That has varied considerably through the different variants.
So basically it is saying that for every 286 people vaccinated, one person who
would have caught the disease during that period will not do so.
But for every 286 people not vaccinated only about 1.1 people would get infected during that same period.
If you take into account those people who suffered reactions and became ill then this will impact on the figures adversely. Therefore I fully respect the right of an individual to refuse to take the jab. Especially with the Omicron variant and if they are not in a vulnerable group. The chances of getting sick are very very slim.
While I do respect the right of individuals to refuse, you do have to remember that from the POV of society the vaccines are not mainly about protecting you as an individual. Getting mass uptake is mainly about reducing the overall number of people needing medical intervention, and thus reducing the pressure on the health service.
You can see why excessive administrative secrecy feeds conspiracy theories and reduces public confidence. On the other hand It should also be remembered that at the beginning of the pandemic the bar was just 50% efficacy required by the FDA.
Absolutely you can. Secrecy is what feeds conspiracy theories, even when there hasn't really been any. As soon as you get any actual secrecy, that is meat & drink to them.