March 10 marked the 1-year anniversary of the WHO designating COVID-19 as a pandemic. As more data become available from Phase 3 clinical vaccine trials, it is natural to compare vaccines’ performance characteristics against each other. For example, the Mayor of Detroit, Michigan, reportedly declined a shipment of the J&J-Janssen vaccine in favor of prioritizing the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. But unlike many products that have well-established standards and metrics, the clinical trials for each vaccine were designed and implemented independently, which makes direct comparison difficult. The focus on specific efficacy numbers between trials may not provide the whole picture. The relatively small numbers of severe cases and deaths in the clinical trials for all of the vaccines so far make it more difficult to evaluate their efficacy in preventing more severe forms of COVID-19, as a single case could result in major changes to the efficacy estimates. Health officials and experts continue to emphasize the importance of vaccination, regardless of which vaccine is available: “The best vaccine is the one that’s in your arm.” This does not mean that the vaccines are identical in terms of their performance, but regardless of whether one specific vaccine is slightly more efficacious than another, any of them will provide more protection—and a high degree of protection—than no vaccine at all. And beyond the direct effect to the vaccinated individual, evidence continues to emerge that vaccination reduces the risk of infection, which could contribute to broader community protection in the form of herd immunity
CSSE is reporting 29,330,642 positive cases in the U.S. and 532,151 deaths. DOH reported 1,967,865 confirmed cases in Florida on Friday, with 32,145 deaths.