News that the Pfizer vaccine is 90 per cent effective has sparked a number of questions about the prospect of a vaccine ending this pandemic. As a special adviser in the Department of Health and Social Care until recently, my job was not to be an expert in epidemiology or science. My job was to ask questions, challenge answers, and ensure ministers had the right advice to be able to take important decisions. When it comes to working out how successful a vaccination programme will be, and what they can do to make it as successful as possible, there are three key questions ministers will be considering.
First question: how effective is the vaccine?
Clinical trials consist of enrolling a huge number of participants (43,538 in Pfizer’s case) and splitting them into two groups. One group gets the real vaccine, another gets a placebo. Participants don’t know which group they are in.
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