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Comment by beezle | Hacker News Reader

So what exactly does the 95% protection represent? 95% protection of people who wear masks and are good about social distancing and avoiding crowds/bad indoor situations? Or 95% of people going about their lives in the manner that we all did pre-Covid?

I really don't know how this is made to be some great news if it is the former and not the latter.

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It means 95% of people exposed to the virus who would have otherwise gotten sick, do not get sick.

Did you read the article? The group of people who got the vaccine had 95% fewer cases than the group who got a placebo.

Perhaps I missed it - does the article say that the test groups were NOT wearing masks and social distancing? Or that they were?

If they were wearing masks and social distancing, what % of that 95% came from that vs the vaccine?

[adding the below]

From this CNBC article in August, it seems participants are free to continue wearing masks https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/12/coronavirus-vaccine-trial-he...

"But he is still taking precautions as best he can. "I'm not going to walk around without a mask on," he said. "I don't think I'm superman."

It's a double blind study. Nobody (including the researchers) knew who was getting the vaccine vs a placebo until the end of the study. That's the point. So both groups were taking the same precautions. So roughly none of that 95% is attributable to difference in precautions.

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