Effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine is addressed by the Centers for Disease Control.
1. Are the COVID-19 vaccines currently in use in the U.S. effective?
All COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the United States are effective at preventing COVID-19 as seen in clinical trial settings.
2. What about in real world conditions?
Research provides growing evidence that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines offer similar protection in real world conditions. The mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations are the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.
3. What sort of protection do the vaccines offer?
COVID-19 vaccination is an important tool to help stop the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 vaccination helps protect people from getting sick or severely ill with COVID-19 and might also help protect people around them.
4. Since both the Moderna and PfizerBioNTech vaccinations require two doses, what about those who got the first shot but did not get the second one?
To receive the most protection, people should receive all recommended doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Some people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will still get sick because no vaccine is 100% effective. Experts continue to monitor and evaluate how often this occurs; how severe the illness is, and how likely a vaccinated person is to spread COVID-19 to others.
5. Will COVID-19 vaccinations provide protection against severe illness in what are called COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases?
COVID-19 vaccines help protect against severe illness in COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases.
While COVID-19 vaccines are working well, some people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will still get sick, because no vaccines are 100% effective. These are called vaccine breakthrough cases. However, there are some data to suggest that vaccination may make symptoms less severe in people who are vaccinated but still get COVID-19.The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to provide protection against severe illness and hospitalization among people of all ages eligible to receive them. This includes people 65 years and older who are at higher risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19.
