New Delhi: Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, professor of molecular medicine, and executive vice-president of Scripps Research on Wednesday informed about the reduced protection of mRNA vaccines vs symptomatic Delta infections.
Taking to Twitter he said that earlier as it was 95% pre-Delta. But now, many are claiming it’s still ~80%. It isn’t. 50-60% is the best to estimate from all sources (not the US, since we don’t have the data).
Why is this important?
Talking about its importance, he said that now it’s time to protect the protected, fully vaccinated. “Sure we want to get more people vaccinated, but truth engenders trust. And truth helps guide people to be safe, use masks, distance, ventilation and all the other tools we have and know helps,” he said.
Mentioning Israel’s Delta case surge, a model country for vaccination, >15 per cent points more of total population vaccinated than the US. That, in itself, tells us about the reduction of protection of mRNA vaccines vs cases/spread.
“I stand by my estimate, which includes soon to be published preprints with US data even lower than this range. But the protection vs hospitalization and death is solid, holding up well, and is the reason why everyone should be vaccinated,” he further wrote on Twitter.
He further said, “More data summarized here, and more to come out soon The Mayo Clinic study of 42% Pfizer vaccine efffectiveness vs Delta infections noted.”
