COVID-19 has definitely broadened not only our perception of life but also our vocabulary. Who would’ve known that words like “quarantine,” “variant,” or “pandemic” would be used on a day-to-day basis and how such uncommon words would suddenly become so common? All these new terms and phrases are being well understood and utilized by the public, but what about the numbers?
The CDC has published coronavirus-related statistics that people still have trouble understanding, or have just been ignoring at all. As someone who’s more verbal-oriented and doesn’t like math, I can definitely agree that numbers can be boring, easy to skip over, or even frustrating sometimes. However, whether you like math or not, data and statistics are crucial, especially in the midst of a pandemic since they give us insightful information and help us stay safe during the pandemic. There are lots of misconceptions with the understanding surge of the delta variant - quantitatively - including misinterpretations of vaccine efficacies and statistics of the delta variant.
First of all, vaccine efficacies are a topic that many people are confused about. According to the BBC, one of the main factors for vaccine hesitancy is “the person's trust in the vaccines' efficacy and safety, the health services offering them, and the policy makers deciding on their rollout.” In order to build the reluctant’s trust, not only do we need to have proper evidence supporting that the vaccines are safe and effective, but we also need to make sure that the public understands how efficacy rates work and what they mean. During clinical trials, all participants were broken into two groups: the control group that received a placebo of the vaccine and the experimental group that received the actual vaccine. Then, they were sent out into the real world while scientists monitored whether or not they were diagnosed with COVID-19 over several months. For example, in the Pfizer trial, there were a total of 43,000 participants, and out of the 43,000 participants, 170 people were infected with the virus. Out of the 170 people who were infected with the virus, 162 were in the placebo group and 8 were given the actual vaccine. The experimental data shows that the vaccine had an efficacy rate of 95%, since 8 out of 170 total participants who got sick had the vaccine. The 95% efficacy rate correspondingly means that those who had the vaccine were 95% less likely to get COVID. However, that doesn’t mean that every 5 in 100 people will get the virus. Instead, the 95% applies to the individual. According to Vox, “Each vaccinated person is 95% less likely than a person without a vaccine to get sick, each time they’re exposed to COVID-19” Therefore, looking at the vaccine efficacy rate and the thoroughness of the trials, getting a vaccine is definitely worth it.
However, these were results that came out before the delta variant emerged. Although research shows that the vaccines are slightly less effective against the variant, they still do provide a lot of protection against the virus. The Mayo Clinic stated that “the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is 88% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 virus [and] 96% effective at preventing severe disease with the COVID-19 virus caused by the delta variant.” It is also “93% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 virus caused by the alpha variant” Thus, the vaccines still do a great job at protecting against variants.
Up to this point, all the data and statistics have sounded pleasant. They have implied that there is no reason to worry about the coronavirus if you have a vaccine, but it is important to understand that even though the vaccine is effective, it isn’t some kind of magic dust that can make the coronavirus disappear. Even though the vaccine may provide an extra layer of protection from being hospitalized, it doesn’t contain the spread of the virus. According to the CDC, only 50.3% of the US population is fully vaccinated, meaning that there is still a significant number of people who aren’t vaccinated yet. That too, vaccinations for children under 12 years of age haven’t been approved yet. There have been a total of 615,778 total deaths and 60,830 hospitalizations in the U.S. (CDC) with “99.99%” of them being part of unvaccinated individuals (CNN). We must follow COVID-19 precautions in order to prevent unvaccinated individuals from spreading the virus, especially the delta variant because if the virus keeps circulating, it might turn into another variant far more dangerous - dangerous enough that the vaccines would be ineffective.
In the end, even if we don’t want to admit it, data and statistics play a significant role in our daily lives, especially in a pandemic. They help experts to inform the public on what is best to do during an unexpected surge. As of now, it is recommended that everyone receives vaccinations, follows COVID-19 precautions, and updates themselves with more information regarding the virus in order to ensure the well-being of everyone.
Citations:
Cdc. “COVID Data Tracker.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 Mar. 2020, bit.ly/CDT_vaccine.
“Do Covid-19 Vaccines Protect against the Variants?” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/covid-variant-vaccine.
Hayes, Mike, and Melissa Macaya. “More than 99.99% of Fully Vaccinated People Have Not Had a SEVERE Breakthrough Case, CDC Data Suggests.” CNN, Cable News Network, 9 Aug. 2021, www.cnn.com/us/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-vaccine-updates-08-09-21/h_9c6a79bada1c3b54c7d873635394a789?utm_medium=social&utm_source=igbioCNN&utm_content=2021-08-09T20%3A31%3A03.
Irfan, Umair. “Why Comparing COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy Numbers Can Be Misleading.” Vox, Vox, 5 Mar. 2021, www.vox.com/22311625/covid-19-vaccine-efficacy-johnson-moderna-pfizer.
“Why Some People Don't Want A COVID-19 Vaccine.” BBC Future, BBC, www.bbc.com/future/article/20210720-the-complexities-of-vaccine-hesitancy.