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As the Delta variant became the dominant strain of coronavirus in the United States, all three COVID vaccines – 19 available to the population lost much of their protective power.
The efficacy of vaccines among a group of almost 780, 000 Veterans decreased and or between 35% and the 85% , according to a new study published Thursday by the journal Science.
The researchers they reviewed found in early March, just as the Delta variant was gaining traction in the US, that all three vaccines were roughly equal in their ability to prevent infections.
However, they last For the following six months , that proportion changed dramatically.
The COVID Vaccine – 19 of two doses of Moderna, measured with a 89% effective in March, had only one 58% effective at the end of September.
The effectiveness of the injections made by Pfizer and the BioNTech vaccine, which also used two doses , fell from 87% to 45% in the same period.
The protective power of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine was reduced from 86% to only the 13% during those six months.
Among veterans of 65 years or more that were inoculated with the Modern vaccine, those who e developed a “revolutionary” infection had a % less chance of dying from COVID – 19 compared to unvaccinated veterans of the same age.
Older veterans who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and subsequently experienced a advanced infection were 70% less likely to die than their unvaccinated peers.
When older veterinarians who received a single injection of J&J vaccine suffered an infection, they had a 52% less likely to die than peers who received no vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended booster shots for everyone who received at least the Johnson & Johnson vaccine two months prior.
Boosters are also recommended six months after a second dose of Moderna or Pfizer vaccines for all people over 65 years.
The new study offers the most comprehensive comparison yet of how all three vaccines have performed nationwide this year.
Tracked to 780, 225 veterans of the US military from February 1 to October 1. Near 500,000 of them had been vaccinated, while slightly less than 300, 000 had not.
The study was conducted by a team from the Oakland Institute of Public Health, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco, and the University of Texas Health Sciences Center.
Strong evidence of declining vaccine power should prompt even states and places with highly vaccinated populations to consider retaining mask mandates, the authors said.
The study concluded that the Delta variant, which caused a wave of infections and deaths across the country this spring and summer, was probably the factor that most eroded vaccine protection.
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