Originally Posted by
Kdogg
Isn't it possible that a vaccine that's 70% efficacy still prevents near 100% of severe cases?
Yes, this would be possible. It depends on how the term “efficacy” is defined in the study protocol. If all symptomatic infection is called a vaccine failure, but nobody gets sick enough to be admitted to the ICU, and 30% vaccinees get symptomatic disease but nobody gets admitted to the ICU, then it would have a 70% efficacy, but would be 100% protective against “severe disease,” where severe disease is defined as ICU admission.
"We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust