Abstract
(1) Background: In epidemiological terms, it has been possible to calculate the savings in health resources and the reduction in the health effects of COVID vaccines. Conducting an economic evaluation, some studies have estimated its cost-effectiveness; the vaccination shows highly favorable results, cost-saving in some cases. (2) Methods: Cost–benefit analysis of the vaccination campaign in the North Metropolitan Health Region (Catalonia). An epidemiological model based on observational data and before and after comparison is used. The information on the doses used and the assigned resources (conventional hospital beds, ICU, number of tests) was extracted from administrative data from the largest primary care provider in the region (Catalan Institute of Health). A distinction was made between the social perspective and the health system. (3) Results: the costs of vaccination are estimated at 137 million euros (€48.05/dose administered). This figure is significantly lower than the positive impacts of the vaccination campaign, which are estimated at 470 million euros (€164/dose administered). Of these, 18% corresponds to the reduction in ICU discharges, 16% to the reduction in conventional hospital discharges, 5% to the reduction in PCR tests and 1% to the reduction in RAT tests. The monetization of deaths and cases that avoid sequelae account for 53% and 5% of total savings, respectively. The benefit/cost ratio is estimated at 3.4 from a social perspective and 1.4 from a health system perspective. The social benefits of vaccination are estimated at €116.67 per vaccine dose (€19.93 from the perspective of the health system). (4) Conclusions: The mass vaccination campaign against COVID is cost-saving. From a social perspective, most of these savings come from the monetization of the reduction in mortality and cases with sequelae, although the intervention is equally widely cost-effective from the health system perspective thanks to the reduction in the use of resources. It is concluded that, from an economic perspective, the vaccination campaign has high social returns.
Highlights
The COVID-19 global pandemic has made the development of vaccines necessary to increase the population’s immunity by stimulating the production of antibodies against the infection
This study aims to perform a cost–benefit analysis of the COVID-19 vaccination strategy for Catalonia compared to a baseline in the absence of vaccination, using the social perspectives and that of the National
According to the epidemiological model used, assuming the socioeconomic context and non-pharmacological measures were the same, and depending on the range in the case of effectiveness, vaccination led to a reduction of between 27,000 and 43,000 infections, between 11,000 and 14,500 hospital discharges, between 1700 and 2,200 ICU discharges and between 2600 and 4300 deaths
Summary
The COVID-19 global pandemic has made the development of vaccines necessary to increase the population’s immunity by stimulating the production of antibodies against the infection. Some economic evaluations have estimated the cost-effectiveness of vaccination, with very favourable results [3,4,5,6,7], suggesting that vaccines against COVID can reduce healthcare costs by up to 60% [8]. Most of these approaches were conducted ex ante and/or using probabilistic models and highlight that the cost-effectiveness of the vaccination strategy depends on the extent of the infection and the vaccinated population exceeding a certain minimum threshold [9,10].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
