Ann Arbor Times

Five years after the first COVID-19 vaccine trials began, a recent study confirms the economic benefits of the United States' investment in vaccination efforts. Initially, 66 million American adults received at least one vaccine dose without a financial burden to them. The study, published in the journal Vaccine and led by University of Michigan researchers, shows that the national vaccine initiative proved to be financially advantageous within just a year.

The research demonstrated that the vaccines helped prevent severe illness and deaths, thereby saving the country more money than was spent on vaccine procurement and distribution. This outcome encompassed costs linked to healthcare provision, testing, treatments for post-COVID conditions, and vaccine-related reactions, as well as productivity costs due to sickness or death.

The study's findings revealed that for adults over 40, the vaccination campaign was particularly cost-effective, yielding greater savings in medical costs than was expended on vaccine efforts for this demographic. For adults aged 18 to 39, while the cost of vaccination slightly exceeded medical costs avoided, the initiative was still considered cost-effective. When factoring in productivity losses, vaccine efforts for younger adults also resulted in net savings.

Lisa Prosser, a professor at the University of Michigan and the study's first author, stated, "All in all, we can safely say that this was a prudent investment for the American people, using a really conservative analysis."

Prosser and David Hutton, a senior author of the study and professor at the same institution, developed and tested a comprehensive model. This model accounted for diverse factors including vaccine costs, testing, illness likelihood, and treatment costs, revealing potentially greater savings than initially reported. It did not include indirect costs like time taken off to care for family members or foundational research funding.

Hutton and Prosser with other co-researchers continue to work on economic models related to ongoing vaccination efforts, collaborating with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). They aim to develop a model for an updated vaccine version expected later this year, contingent on CDC support and data.

Despite improved vaccination and treatments, hundreds still die weekly from COVID-19 in 2025. Approximately 1% of recent emergency visits have been COVID-19-related. Prosser emphasized the current CDC guideline for individuals over six months old to receive at least one dose of any updated vaccine. For those over 65 or immunocompromised, a second dose is recommended after six months.

The study involved contributions from several researchers, all linked to the University of Michigan School of Public Health or the Susan B. Meister Child Health and Evaluation Research Center, reinforcing the comprehensiveness of the analysis.