Thanks. I see that but its worded funny. “preventing 92% of confirmed infections”. Usually these things are worded differently, such as “reduced risk of” or in the case of therapeutics for other ailment “improved in X% of patients who received”. Preventing confirmed infections, in my mind anyway, sounds like a rhetorical device.
I think the important question is: Does it prevent those who get the vaccine from spreading it to others? Confirmed infection doesn’t necessarily mean no infection, could just mean very low (unconfirmed/undetectable) viral load. Which is good of course, but not necessarily what we are looking for during this period of roll-out as it will take many many months or even the whole of 2021 before everyone who wants the vaccine to be able to get it.
“I think the important question is: Does it prevent those who get the vaccine from spreading it to others?”
Yes. The vaccinated immune system neutralizes the virus as soon as it enters the body so it cannot replicate, make copies of itself.
It’s the copies that are transmitted.
“I think the important question is: Does it prevent those who get the vaccine from spreading it to others? Confirmed infection doesn’t necessarily mean no infection, could just mean very low (unconfirmed/undetectable) viral load.”
It lowers the probability by more than an order of magnitude.
Low viral load itself also makes those people who are infected, less infectious to others (compared to someone with a higher load).
In turn, when people are infected by an initially smaller amount of virus, their individual outcomes are also better - less likely to have symptoms, serious illness, die or transmit to others.
The virus takes longer to replicate to a high load, and the immune system has more time to respond - further impeding viral growth along the way. It is kind of race between offense and defense, to see which can overwhelm the other with sheer numbers.