Analysis: COVID vaccines generated up to $809 in economic benefits for every dollar spent
Laine BergesonToday at 2:38 p.m.
COVID-19
COVID-19 vaccines played a critical role in reducing severe illness and death during the pandemic, but developing them required significant investments from governments, pharmaceutical companies, and nonprofit organizations.
A study published last week in PLOS Medicine examines whether those investments were worthwhile, and it finds that the health and economic benefits far outweighed the costs—with a 60- to 800-fold return on investment.
“Our study provides evidence that the unprecedented, rapid investments made into COVID vaccines early in the pandemic paid off massively both in health and economic benefits,” says senior author Mark Jit, PhD, a professor of global health at NYU School of Global Public Health, in a New York University news release. “Vaccine development, as well as equitable vaccine distribution globally, should be prioritized before and during global health crises.”
Vaccines prevented 1.5 billion infections
For the study, researchers led by a team from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine analyzed vaccine-related costs and benefits across 173 countries from December 2020 to December 2021, when vaccination had its greatest impact because there was less immunity to SARS-CoV-2.The team compared the costs of vaccine development, manufacturing, and distribution with the health and economic benefits of vaccination, including years of life gained, improved quality of life from preventing severe illness and death, increased workplace productivity, and reduced healthcare spending.
They used two different methods to quantify the benefits: the first assigned a monetary value to the lives saved. The second estimated the value of improved health relative to what healthcare systems would otherwise spend to achieve similar outcomes.
They found that vaccine development and distribution cost an estimated $79.4 billion worldwide, including $13.2 billion in public and nonprofit investments, $14.1 billion in corporate and private-sector investments, and $8.94 billion in delivery costs.
Meanwhile, they estimated that vaccination prevented 1.5 billion infections and 51.5 million hospitalizations, generating $564 billion in productivity savings and $222 billion in healthcare costs. Overall, the estimated benefits of vaccination ranged from $6.43 trillion to $64.3 trillion, which translates to a return on investment of $59.7 to $809 per dollar spent. The researchers note that the benefits of global vaccination were at least 70 times greater than the costs during the first year.
“While developing and rolling out these vaccines at unprecedented speed required substantial upfront investment, the health and economic benefits far outweighed the costs within just one year,” Hallie Benjamin, MSc, a medical student at Harvard Medical School and lead author of the paper, says in the news release.
Benefits unevenly distributed
The findings highlighted substantial disparities across income groups. High-income countries experienced the greatest health and economic benefits per vaccinated person, reflecting earlier vaccine access, faster rollouts, and higher uptake. At the same time, low-income countries experienced the greatest savings in healthcare and productivity costs relative to their economies.Because the study only looked at the first year of vaccination, its return-on-investment estimates are likely conservative, note the researchers. And it excluded some costs and benefits, like changes in pandemic restrictions. Despite these limitations, the researchers say the findings support rapid investment in vaccine development.
“By preventing billions of infections and millions of hospitalizations and deaths, the vaccines generated enormous value for societies and economies worldwide,” concludes Benjamin.
