Pfizer COVID Vaccine Saved 110,000 American Lives, Study Says

By Robert Preidt HealthDay Reporter
       
       HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, May 16, 2022 (HealthDay News) — As the United States mourns a million deaths from COVID-19, a brand new examine signifies the grim tally might have been worse. Use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine prevented greater than 110,000 deaths and 690,000 hospitalizations within the United States in 2021, researchers report.

The vaccine additionally prevented 8.7 million symptomatic instances of an infection and saved greater than $30 billion in well being care prices and greater than $40 billion in misplaced productiveness, the examine authors famous.

“The analyses present that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine contributed substantial public well being influence within the U.S. in 2021, and had a deep impact on the trajectory of the pandemic,” stated Manuela Di Fusco, of Pfizer’s well being economics and outcomes analysis group.

The Pfizer vaccine was the primary COVID-19 shot obtainable within the United States. It was given to almost six in 10 folks nationwide who had been absolutely vaccinated in 2021, in response to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The findings had been revealed on-line May 15 within the Journal of Medical Economics. All of the examine authors acquired funding from Pfizer both as staff, consultants or staff of companies paid by Pfizer.

Despite the usage of COVID-19 vaccines, the U.S. loss of life toll in the course of the pandemic neared a million final week.

President Joe Biden ordered U.S. flags flown at half-staff Thursday.

“We should stay vigilant towards this pandemic and do every little thing we are able to to save lots of as many lives as attainable,” Biden stated.

In this examine, researchers estimated the influence of the Pfizer vaccine utilizing a mannequin, real-world knowledge and medical trial knowledge.

The mannequin used knowledge on the variety of folks vaccinated, the effectiveness of the vaccine in varied age teams, and the possibilities of being contaminated, creating signs and being hospitalized.

It additionally included the results of lengthy COVID, the variety of working days possible misplaced attributable to short-term sickness and the financial influence of untimely deaths from the illness.

The mannequin didn’t embrace the influence of the extra transmissible Omicron variant that turned the dominant coronavirus pressure on the finish of the examine interval.

Continued

The vaccine “was estimated to stop tens of millions of COVID-19 symptomatic instances, 1000’s of hospitalizations and deaths, and generated billions in societal financial worth within the U.S. in 2021,” Di Fusco stated in a journal information launch.

The findings “spotlight the chance to proceed widespread vaccination uptake to stop COVID-19-related illness and generate societal advantages,” she added.

Numerous limitations might have resulted within the numbers within the examine being underestimates, in response to Di Fusco and colleagues. These embrace not factoring within the vaccine’s potential to cut back transmission of the coronavirus, the severity of instances and the general influence of lengthy COVID .

The researchers additionally famous that their findings cannot be utilized to different COVID-19 vaccines or teams of individuals not particularly analyzed within the examine.

         More data
       

There’s extra on COVID-19 vaccines on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

         

SOURCE: Journal of Medical Economics, information launch, May 16, 2022

       

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