Robert Malone on vaccine-efficacy: what the evidence says · JRE #1757

FACT CHECK // JRE #1757 // EXHIBIT LOG
EPISODE AIRED DEC 1, 2021 · THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE
CLAIM CMRCORX4STATUS: PUBLISHED
SUBJECT: VACCINE-EFFICACY
Timestamp1:58:27
Aired
RulingNeeds Context

Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.

// THE CLAIM · ON TAPE
there is signs in some data, and we were talking about this just before the broadcast, from Denmark, among other places, of negative efficacy against Omicron as a function of the number of vaccinations up to three
Robert Malone@ 1:58:27
Watch on YouTubeJUMP TO 1:58:27

What the evidence says 01 / RECORD

The Danish data Malone likely referenced come from a Statens Serum Institut nationwide cohort study (published in PLOS Medicine) estimating COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) against infection across the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron periods. That study found VE against Omicron infection after two doses fell to near zero over time: 4.4% (95% CI: -0.1 to 8.7) more than 120 days after the second dose, a confidence interval that marginally crosses zero, consistent with waning immunity rather than a true negative or dose-dependent harm effect. VE against Omicron infection then rose to 57.7% (95% CI: 55.9 to 59.5) shortly after a third (booster) dose, the opposite of the monotonic dose-dependent worsening Malone describes. The study's authors attributed the low two-dose estimates to waning antibody levels over time and possible behavioral or testing differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated groups, not to vaccination itself actively reducing protection, and flagged this nonrandomized comparison as a key limitation. The claim of a monotonic 'negative efficacy...up to three' doses is not supported by this dataset: point estimates did not decline further, and were substantially higher, after the third dose.

/// factcheckjoerogan.com