Validating Confirmation in Vaccine Effectiveness

"What  it shows is that if you're vaccinated you'll definitely be in the minority of people who end up with an infection, end up in hospital or end up dying."

"It 's the prevention of bad outcomes like death that the vaccine does an amazing job at, upwards of 90 to 95 percent."

"The rate of infections in vaccinated people is extraordinarily low ... and you're not taking into account that it was a much larger number that contributed to those infections."
"That leaves about 46 percent or so who are people who are eligible for the vaccine, but aren't vaccinated yet. Getting that population -- the ones who are eligible and easily vaccinated -- would go a long, long way [to reaching a state of herd immunity]."

"There's a strong argument that 50 and older is where we want to look as we have enough vaccine [to administer the third, 'booster' dose for maximum efficacy against COVID]."

"Obviously the most important thing is to get everyone vaccinated. That's No.1, but we're reaching a threshold where trying to [reach] that further bit is difficult."

Dr.Gerald Evans, infectious-disease specialist, Queen's University, Kingston

Drive-thru clinic,Kingston.  CP/Lars Hagberg

According to a newly published study from Public Health Ontario, unvaccinated people account for 90.9 percent of all COVID-19 hospitalizations in the province, and 90.2 percent of all deaths due to the coronavirus. Fully vaccinated people in SARS-CoV-2 breakouts account for a mere 2.7 percent of hospitalizations and 3.3 percent of deaths, according to the report's data. The study represents the most detailed investigation yet of the effectiveness of the     COVID-19 vaccines, both at preventing infections and in limiting severe outcomes.

Data was examined from December 14, 2020 when the first vaccinations were rolled out in the province -- until November 14, including early stages of booster doses for the most vulnerable people in the province. Unvaccinated individuals, measured in the 30 days before the release of the study, were 4.8 times more likely to contract COVID than were fully vaccinated people, according to the study results.

Making up 91.7 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the province, those who remain unvaccinated obviously receive the brunt of the casualties of COVID infections. Infections that hit fully vaccinated individuals -- known as "breakthrough cases" account for only 3.8 percent of infections, with fewer than 0.2 percent of infections occurring in people having received a third dose of vaccine. 

 

Among people aged 60 and over, data are particularly alarming; in that age group those unvaccinated are over 16 times likelier to end up in hospital, as opposed to someone who is fully vaccinated. Seniors for the most part who have received a third dose -- which encompasses those over age 70, the immunocompromised and their caregivers at this juncture -- account for less than 0.2 percent of hospitalizations and under 0.1 percent of deaths.

 

"Yes, you could get infected if you're fully vaccinated, particularly if you're hanging out with someone who is infected and unvaccinated -- and that's what we're beginning to see because there is more soci8alizing going on since we're all desperate for it. But we know that the ultimate outcome is not going to be as bad", advised Dr.Evans. Of 11,154,162 Ontarians fully vaccinated by mid-November, 17.596 had undergone a breakthrough infection. 

 

Current vaccination rate in the province stands at about 78 percent of the entire population. Children aged five to 11 represent roughly 30 percent, with eligibility to receive pediatric doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine just ratified. Under age four children are not eligible for inoculation, accounting for about 15 percent of the unvaccinated.

 

Experience in Israel and some parts of the United States provide reliable evidence of the utility in expanding the third, booster dose of vaccine to the over-50 group: "Over age 50, you start to see a benefit to third doses", Dr.Evans explained.