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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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FACT BRIEF

Did developers of the two recently-approved COVID-19 vaccines include elderly subjects in their testing?

By Lisa Freedland
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YES

With people over 65 accounting for 80% of U.S. COVID-19 fatalities, understanding the efficacy and safety of potential vaccines among the elderly is especially important.

The founder of BioNTech SE, which developed the first approved vaccine in partnership with Pfizer Inc., said the vaccine “appears to work” in the higher-risk elderly population, with 94% effectiveness in trial subjects over 65, according to the Los Angeles Times. In the companies’ large-scale trial, 42% of enrollees were over 55.

An early “investigational” trial of the Moderna Inc. vaccine, which was developed in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health, included 40 subjects over 55 years old (20 of whom were over 70), and confirmed that the response was similar to that in younger age groups. In the later-stage larger trial, 25% of participants were over 65.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Los Angeles Times: Pfizer says further data show its COVID-19 vaccine is 95% effective, works in older people
New England Journal of Medicine: Safety and efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine (see table 1)
National Institutes of Health: Investigational COVID-19 vaccine well tolerated in older adults
Moderna: Phase 3 COVE (‘Coronavirus Efficacy and Safety’) Study—demographics of participants
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Gigafact
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.