CDC Director: Nobody Said COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Might Wane

Rochelle Walensky, now the CDC director, speaks during an event in Wilmington, Del., in a December 2020 file photograph. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

When COVID-19 vaccines were first authorized in late 2020, the public wasn’t informed that the touted effectiveness might decline, a top U.S. health official said on March 3.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recalled watching coverage of clinical trial results that indicated the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was 95 percent effective.