The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an Emergency Use Authorization after determining how well several vaccines works. The CDC, along with other federal entities, have thoroughly assessed multiple vaccine’s efficacies. Continued monitoring will be conducted under real world conditions utilizing data from clinical trials, case control studies, ecologic analysis, and post-marketing surveillance studies.

The Pfizer vaccine has been shown to have 85% efficacy against COVID-19 after the first dose and 95% efficacy after the second dose. These rates were consistent over different ages, gender, race and ethnicity demographics as well including Asian Americans. These COVID-19 vaccine trials were inclusive and reflected the groups at risk for COVID-19 to ensure representative safety and effectiveness among diverse populations. In fact, the largest trials were paused in the middle to recruit higher numbers of volunteer participants among communities of color. In the Pfizer vaccine study, 30% of U.S. participants have racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds.

The Moderna vaccine estimates a vaccine efficacy of 94.1% based on the analysis of 196 cases. This efficacy was also consistent over different ages, gender, race and ethnicity demographics as well including Asian Americans.

This data is still in its early stages and will still be under review of the CDC and other government entities to test the safety of the vaccine.

Sources: CDC - Ensuring Vaccines Work, Pfizer - Phase 3 Study of COVID-19 Vaccine

More resources:

• CDC