In May 2021 The Lancet (supposedly the most prestigious medical journal in the world) published an article describing the largest observational study (covering most of the population of Israel) into the effectiveness of the Pfizer covid vaccine.
Its claim of 95% effectiveness – which happened to be exactly the same figure claimed by Pfizer in its original Phase 3 randomised controlled trial – was widely used as the ultimate confirmation of how incredibly effective the vaccine was (the study did not consider safety at all, but more on that below). But the study was flawed in many ways and on 17 May 2021 we submitted a rapid response (just 250 words) to The Lancet explaining why the claim was exaggerated.
The Lancet and the NEJM have interesting interpretations of what "Conflicts of Interest" entails when it comes to Covid related papers.