90% efficacy does not mean that 100% of the population is 90% able to fight off the disease. It means that 90% of the vaccine recipients are ~100% immune, while

90% efficacy does not mean that 100% of the population is 90% able to fight off the disease. It means that 90% of the vaccine recipients are ~100% immune, while 10% are ~0% immune. This has a biological basis: did they seroconvert or not. It simply isn't workable to reason from lighter symptoms to "partial immunity." Let's pretend the vaccine didn't exist. Take someone with a mild case of covid. Would you say this person is partially immune? Or consider someone with no symptoms at all--are they completely immune? Since the vast majority of cases are mild or asymptomatic, are you prepared to argue that "immunity" is actually very widespread? Again, your "some people win the race, some lose" analogy is on the mark. It's pointless to talk about "partial victory"