Are the Russian covid-vaccine results accurate?
A new study calls into question a published clinical trial
If you flip a coin, your chances of getting heads or tails are equal. But if several people flip a dozen times each, the chance of them all getting a 50:50 split is small. Neither are they likely all to get exactly the same split, 50:50 or otherwise, between heads and tails. This simple concept is what Kyle Sheldrick of the University of New South Wales, in Sydney, and his colleagues have used to show that clinical trial results for Russia’s Sputnik V covid-19 vaccine, published in the Lancet in 2021, contain some numbers which are extremely unlikely to occur in that type of trial.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Irregular regularity”
Science & technology June 25th 2022
From the June 25th 2022 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Science & technology
Should you worry about microplastics?
Little is known about the effects on humans—but limiting exposure to them seems prudent
Wasps stole genes from viruses
That probably assisted their evolutionary diversification
America’s departure from the WHO would harm everyone
Whether it is a negotiating ploy remains to be seen
Genetic engineering could help rid Australia of toxic cane toads
It is better than freezing them to death
High-tech antidotes for snake bites
Genetic engineering and AI are powering the search for antivenins
Can you breathe stress away?
It won’t hurt to try. But scientists are only beginning to understand the links between the breath and the mind