What’s the Use of a Pretty Good Vaccine?
New vaccines are falling short of the spectacular expectations set by Pfizer and Moderna. The world still needs them.
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Last spring and summer, when a COVID-19 vaccine was only a glimmer of hope on the horizon, scientists warned in their careful way that vaccines might not live up to the public’s high expectations. The FDA said a vaccine needed to be just 50 percent effective. The most important thing, scientists told me, was that the vaccines at least protect against severe illness.
