Why 95% Effective is Misleading

     About a year ago, we all heard news reports of a new vaccine that is "95% effective."  However, the media failed to mention that this number is misleading, as it is the relative risk reduction and a tactic used often by industries to promote a product.  What's more significant and more relevant, and hardly ever mentioned, is the absolute risk reduction.  I've linked articles and videos below explaining the difference between relative and absolute risk reduction.  This issue has been raised by researchers in The Lancet and even the associate editor of the British Medical Journal, in November 2020, where he stated:

"Let’s put this in perspective. First, a relative risk reduction is being reported, not absolute risk reduction, which appears to be less than 1%. Second, these results refer to the trials’ primary endpoint of covid-19 of essentially any severity, and importantly not the vaccine’s ability to save lives, nor the ability to prevent infection, nor the efficacy in important subgroups (e.g. frail elderly). Those still remain unknown. Third, these results reflect a time point relatively soon after vaccination, and we know nothing about vaccine performance at 3, 6, or 12 months, so cannot compare these efficacy numbers against other vaccines like influenza vaccines (which are judged over a season). Fourth, children, adolescents, and immunocompromised individuals were largely excluded from the trials, so we still lack any data on these important populations."

Recent studies and reviews have revealed that the countries and regions with the highest vaccination rates has not resulted in lower COVID-19 rates.  Many have actually shown the opposite.  According to one study from the European Journal of Epidemiology, they state that:

"At the country-level, there appears to be no discernable relationship between percentage of population fully vaccinated and new COVID-19 cases in the last 7 days.  In fact, the trend line suggests a marginally positive association such that countries with higher percentage of population fully vaccinated have higher COVID-19 cases per 1 million people.  Notably, Israel with over 60% of their population fully vaccinated had the highest COVID-19 cases per million people in the last 7 days.  The lack of a meaningful association between percentage population fully vaccinated and new COVID-19 cases is further exemplified, for instance, by comparison of Iceland and Portugal.  Both countries have over 75% of their population fully vaccinated and have more COVID-19 cases per 1 million people than countries such as Vietnam and South Africa that have around 10% of their population fully vaccinated."

While the absolute effectiveness of this campaign is questionable, adverse reactions are being reported worldwide, including more than 2.8 million thus far in the U.S. and U.K. alone.  I have also seen and heard of numerous vaccine adverse reactions in my practice, including a lady the other day that had skin lesions on her legs, but said her doctor told her, "it's just an autoimmune reaction to the vaccine."  Fortunately, over 60 studies have already been published verifying the robust effectiveness of natural immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.   This seems to be just another example of how medical science has always downplayed the innate recuperative powers of the body, in favour of prevention and treatment measures that are much more invasive, toxic, and less effective.  Is it maybe because there's not much profit in natural recovery or immunity?   

by SJ NANA, D.C., DrNana.co.za

For more information:

• COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and effectiveness—the elephant (not) in the room
• Peter Doshi: Pfizer and Moderna’s “95% effective” vaccines—let’s be cautious and first see the full data
  
• Will covid-19 vaccines save lives? Current trials aren’t designed to tell us
  
• Studying Studies: Part I – relative risk vs. absolute risk
• Reporting the findings: Absolute vs. relative risk
• Video (3 minutes 31 seconds) : Relative Risk Reduction Can Be Relatively Misleading by Dr Terry Shaneyfelt, Medical Professor, 
  
• DrBeen Medical Lectures Video: Absolute Risk Reduction vs Relative Risk Reduction
  
• Covid “Vaccines”: A Faltering Framework
  
• COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and effectiveness—the elephant (not) in the room
  
• Peter Doshi: Pfizer and Moderna’s “95% effective” vaccines—let’s be cautious and first see the full data
  
• Increases in COVID-19 are unrelated to levels of vaccination across 68 countries and 2947 counties in the United States
• Are Vaccinations REALLY Our Way Out of This Pandemic?
  
• "The Mistreatment of Acute Disease"
  
• The Ignored Efficiency of the Immune System
  
• 91 Research Studies Affirm Naturally Acquired Immunity to Covid-19: Documented, Linked, and Quoted
  
• WATCH: Sen. Johnson Holds Expert Panel on COVID Vaccine Injuries, Federal Vaccine Mandates