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Jab fears explained: a base rate fallacy

Why increasing numbers of Covid infections among the vaccinated can be explained by a statistical phenomenon.

As some countries rapidly roll out vaccination programmes, there have been concerns that increases in infection rates amongst vaccinated groups mean vaccines are less effective than we hoped, especially in the face of the feared Delta variant.

Epidemiologist Dr Katelyn Jetelina from the University of Texas Health Science Centre School of Public Health explains why this isn’t what the numbers show – rather than decreasing vaccine effectiveness, increasing rates can be explained by a statistical phenomenon known as ‘base rate fallacy’.

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald

Producer: Nathan Gower

Available now

9 minutes

Last on

Mon 9 Aug 2021 09:50GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 7 Aug 2021 04:50GMT
  • Sun 8 Aug 2021 13:50GMT
  • Sun 8 Aug 2021 21:50GMT
  • Mon 9 Aug 2021 09:50GMT

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