“Outbreaks in highly vaccinated countries show vaccines don’t work.”
This is another frustrating myth that relies on shoddy math.
Countries such as the U.S., UK, and Israel have all experienced surges of the pandemic even as many of their residents had gotten vaccinated. Some of these cases have included the vaccinated, and there is evidence that vaccine-provided immunity has waned over time, particularly in the elderly or high-risk groups. But even when you take all that into account, you still find that vaccinated people remain far less likely to get seriously sick and die.
No vaccine is 100% effective, and even in a fully vaccinated world, some people would still get covid-19 and a few would die from it. But the covid-19 shots have prevented many deaths in the U.S. already, and the continued spread of the pandemic isn’t because the vaccines don’t work; it’s largely because not enough people are vaccinated. To date, only around 60% of the U.S. population has gotten fully vaccinated, and countries with much higher rates are having an easier time with the pandemic than we currently are.
