Health Affairs
Sumedha Gupta; Jonathan Cantor; Kosali I. Simon; Ana I. Bento; Coady Wing; Christopher M. Whaley;
AUGUST 18, 2021
credit to the image on top: unicef
Abstract
- COVID-19 vaccination campaigns continue in the United States, with the expectation that vaccines will slow transmission of the virus, save lives, and enable a return to normal life in due course.
- However, the extent to which faster vaccine administration has affected COVID-19-related deaths is unknown.
- We assessed the association between US state-level vaccination rates and COVID-19 deaths during the first five months of vaccine availability.
- We estimated that by May 9, 2021, the US vaccination campaign was associated with a reduction of 139,393 COVID-19 deaths.
- The association varied in different states. In New York, for example, vaccinations led to an estimated 11.7 fewer COVID-19 deaths per 10,000, whereas Hawaii observed the smallest reduction, with an estimated 1.1 fewer deaths per 10,000.
- Overall, our analysis suggests that the early COVID-19 vaccination campaign was associated with reductions in COVID-19 deaths.
- As of May 9, 2021, reductions in COVID-19 deaths associated with vaccines had translated to value of statistical life benefit ranging between $625 billion and $1.4 trillion.
Originally published at: https://www.healthaffairs.org
