Vaxathon!

Today is the NZ Vaxathon! I had my second dose last week. All the statisticians I’ve talked to on the issue have had either one or two doses depending on when they became eligible.  For fans of anecdata, our experience varied from no adverse effects at all to a day or so feeling pretty bloody average, consistent with what the randomised trial reported.

In the spirit of StatsChat, here are some links to primary sources for anyone who wants to do their own reading rather than getting clinicians and scientists to translate it

• Official guidance from the US Food and Drug Administration on what sort of evidence they would need to approve a Covid vaccine (June 2020)
• The protocol (plan) for the Pfizer vaccine trial. It’s unusual for these to be public, but it was reassuring when this one was published last year (PDF)
• The meeting briefings for the external expert advisory committee meeting that recommended authorisation of the vaccine. You want ‘Briefing Document -FDA’ and ‘Briefing Document -Sponsor’. And if you’re really dedicated, the transcript of the discussion.  This is where you get all the detailed information that doesn’t fit into a published research paper, plus discussion from the medical and scientific experts
• Real-world effectiveness assessment of the vaccine in Israel. Authors include Miguel Hernán, who is a leading expert on causal inference from observational data
• What we know about heart inflammation after vaccination: an adverse reaction in about one person per 100,000 aged under 40.  Most recover fully, but there has been one death in New Zealand that was probably due to this.
• A summary on vaccine effectiveness with links to primary sources, covering effectiveness against Delta, prevention of infection, and prevention of symptomatic disease
• Vaccination of health care workers in the UK reduced infection rates for their household members
• A recent study in China (with different vaccines) found vaccinated people were less likely to pass on the virus even with Delta
• An even more recent UK study looking at the Pfizer and AZ vaccines found the same