Study Shows Economic Benefits Of Continued Covid-19 Vaccination

As nan federation gears up for nan rollout of an updated COVID-19 vaccine, a caller study shows nan economical benefits of continued wide vaccination successful adults.

In fact, nan state would yet prevention much money that it would walk connected vaccinating each personification complete property 65 pinch a azygous dose of an updated mRNA vaccine against coronavirus, nan study concludes.

That's because of nan powerfulness of nan vaccine to forestall deaths, hospitalizations, short- and semipermanent unwellness and mislaid productivity specified arsenic mislaid workdays successful this property group, nan researchers study based connected a machine model. The exemplary focused connected group without immunocompromising conditions aliases medications.

Meanwhile, successful middle-aged adults from 50 to 64 years old, wide vaccination is simply a bully economical investment, nan study concludes. Even vaccinating patient young adults property 18 to 49 would autumn wrong accepted limits for cost-effectiveness nether definite conditions.

The caller study, published successful JAMA Network Open, comes from a squad led by a brace of University of Michigan researchers who person done galore vaccine cost-effectiveness studies nether statement pinch nan national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, aliases CDC. The study includes aggregate CDC researchers arsenic co-authors.

Lisa Prosser, PhD, is nan lead writer of nan caller insubstantial and co-leader pinch David Hutton. PhD of nan broader vaccine cost-effectiveness investigation effort. She is simply a professor of pediatrics successful nan U-M Medical School and of wellness guidance and argumentation astatine nan U-M School of Public Health, wherever Hutton is besides a professor.

We show that a azygous dose of 2023-2024 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine averted important unwellness and decease crossed property groups, and that this led to economically charismatic results for some of nan older property groups crossed wide variations successful nan parameters of nan model. However, we besides find that a 2nd dose successful non-immunocompromised adults nether property 64 was not economically favorable, though a 2nd dose successful adults complete property 65 was."

Lisa Prosser, PhD, Study Lead Author and Professor, University of Michigan

She notes that 2nd doses person been recommended for older adults and those of immoderate property pinch definite conditions for some of nan past 2 COVID-19 vaccination seasons.

The study did not see information from group nether nan property of 18, because of nan deficiency of data.

In general, nan study finds that wide vaccination could forestall 391 hospitalizations and 43 deaths from terrible COVID-19 for each 100,000 group complete property 65 vaccinated. For those property 18 to 49, those numbers would beryllium lower, pinch 39 hospitalizations and 1 decease prevented for each 100,000 vaccinated.

The number of cases of COVID-19, of immoderate severity, that could beryllium prevented done wide vaccination was astir nan aforesaid for each 3 property groups, betwixt 7,600 and 8,900 for each 100,000 adults vaccinated.

Prosser notes that declining COVID hospitalization rates whitethorn lend to little favorable economical outcomes successful early analyses.

Current COVID-19 situation

CDC information shows that much than 47,000 Americans had COVID-19 listed connected their decease certificates successful 2024, pinch two-thirds of them having COVID-19 listed arsenic nan underlying origin and 34% having it listed arsenic a contributing cause. That is down sharply from nan first years of nan pandemic, and down substantially from 2023.

Although nan immense mostly of U.S. adults person received astatine slightest 1 dose of a COVID-19 vaccine since they became disposable successful early 2021, nan percent receiving nan updated vaccine successful caller years has dropped markedly.

CDC information show that 28% of adults complete property 65 taking portion successful accepted Medicare had received nan 2024-2025 vaccine arsenic of this past February. As of April 2025, 23% of adults of each ages told surveyors they had received nan 2024-2025 vaccine.

Previous investigation and underlying model

Earlier this year, Prosser and colleagues published a insubstantial successful nan diary Vaccine evaluating nan cost-effectiveness of nan nationalist finance successful testing, buying and delivering nan first vaccines . In all, they show, this nationalist vaccine strategy carried retired successful 2020 and 2021 much than paid for itself aft conscionable 1 year.

Even without counting mislaid productivity, nan nationalist COVID-19 vaccine effort saved money for astir big property groups purely by avoiding aesculapian costs, nan study concluded. Overall, among each adults complete property 40, nan federation saved much successful avoided aesculapian costs than it spent connected nan vaccine effort.

The U-M squad has presented findings astir nan cost-effectiveness of respective vaccines to meetings of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, which creates recommendations for vaccine use. 

The exemplary utilized successful each of nan team's studies includes everything from nan costs of nan vaccine itself, to location aliases laboratory tests for nan virus, to nan likelihood of suffering immoderate level of COVD-19 unwellness aliases vaccine reaction, to nan emblematic costs of receiving attraction astatine immoderate level of illness, to nan number of days of activity mislaid for different levels of illness. The researchers included post-COVID conditions, besides called Long COVID aliases PASC for Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19.

The exemplary besides incorporates information connected existent rates and severity of illness, and decease rates, for different property groups.

The exemplary uses blimpish estimates, truthful nan size of nan savings whitethorn really beryllium moreover larger than nan studies report, Prosser notes. For instance, nan exemplary does not see nan mislaid productivity of group who took clip disconnected activity to attraction for a sick big family member, patients' out-of-pocket costs for treatment, aliases proscription to get to aesculapian care.

Prosser notes that nan existent CDC proposal is for everyone complete nan property of 6 months to get astatine slightest 1 dose of nan existent COVID-19, though nan CDC's proposal for children without an immune-compromising information changed this summertime to see shared decisionmaking betwixt nan child's parent/guardian and a wellness attraction professional.

For group who are property 65 and older, aliases immunocompromised because of a wellness information aliases treatment, nan CDC recommends a 2nd dose of nan existent vaccine six months aft nan first.