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https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/123647| Title: | Lies, damned lies, and statistics |
| Authors: | Baruch, Joaquin |
| Keywords: | COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023 -- Statistics Vaccine hesitancy COVID-19 (Disease) -- Vaccination Public health |
| Issue Date: | 2021-10 |
| Publisher: | University of Malta |
| Citation: | Baruch, J. (2021). Lies, damned lies, and statistics. THINK Magazine, 36, 10. |
| Abstract: | The way we understand the causes and patterns of COVID has been stirred by a chaos of statistics. As an epidemiologist, here are three takeaways that I believe we must communicate, at least for vaccine-preventable diseases. Firstly, what is vaccine effectiveness? For the sake of the argument, let's say our aim is to prevent COVID-19 hospitalisations. Next, let's look at Vaccine A. Vaccine A has an effectiveness of 93%, which means that the incidence (new cases per population per time) of hospitalisations would be 93% lower if our population is vaccinated. However, it does not mean that 7% of the people will be hospitalised. Let's assume three things. a) a population of 1,000,000, b) an incidence of 600 cases per 100k per week, and c) 10% of cases are hospitalised. [excerpt] |
| URI: | https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/123647 |
| Appears in Collections: | Think Magazine, Issue 36 Think Magazine, Issue 36 |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| THINK36-Lies.pdf | 154.55 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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