A study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were 94 percent effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 among 1,843 health care workers in 25 states, providing "the most compelling information to date that COVID-19 vaccines were performing as expected in the real world," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a statement Friday. "This study, added to the many studies that preceded it, was pivotal to CDC changing its recommendations for those who are fully vaccinated."
More than 80 percent of the study participants were female, the median age of all participants was 37 to 38, and all of them were tested regularly. The 94 percent effectiveness rate was in line with the Pfizer and Moderna clinical trials, but the study also found that one dose of the vaccine was 82 percent effective, higher than in previous studies, possibly because of the relative youth of the participants.
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