Moderna and Pfizer vaccines 'highly effective' at preventing infections in CDC study

Moderna's and Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccines have been found to be "highly effective" under real-world conditions in a new CDC study.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers in a study found that two COVID-19 vaccine doses prevented 90 percent of infections by two weeks after the second dose, while one dose also prevented 80 percent of infections after two weeks, The New York Times reports.

The study consisted of 3,950 essential workers, a majority of whom received two doses of a vaccine, and the CDC said its findings demonstrated that "vaccines can reduce the risk of all" COVID-19 infections, "not just symptomatic infections."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Times also notes that the CDC's findings "do not confirm" fears that concerning COVID-19 variants might render vaccines less effective, as variants were circulating while the study was being conducted from December through March.

"The authorized mRNA COVID-19 vaccines provided early, substantial real-world protection against infection for our nation’s health care personnel, first responders, and other frontline essential workers," CDC director Rochelle Walensky said, adding that the findings "should offer hope to the millions of Americans receiving COVID-19 vaccines each day and to those who will have the opportunity to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated in the weeks ahead."