By Jack Phillips, Epoch Times

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that data sourced from Israel on COVID-19 vaccines show that the efficacy of the shots has dropped among individuals who received their vaccines early on.

Citing three studies that were released by the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Walensky said on Aug. 18 that the vaccines’ efficacy decreases over time in preventing infection. Although protection against death and hospitalization is “holding up well,” the COVID-19 vaccines’ effectiveness is “waning” in even preventing severe illness or death, she said.

“Even though our vaccines are currently working well to prevent hospitalizations, we are seeing concerning evidence of waning vaccine effectiveness over time and against the Delta variant,” Walensky said during a news conference in explaining why federal officials are now recommending that booster shots be given to Americans eight months after they’ve been vaccinated with the Pfizer or Moderna shots.

The two vaccines, the most widely used in the United States, were pegged at 95 percent and 94.1 percent effective, respectively, when granted emergency use authorization in December 2020.

But the efficacy against infection has plummeted to 53.1 percent for both vaccines, one of the new studies found.

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