- COVID-19 vaccinations are estimated to have contributed to large positive effects for tourism exports ($28 billion) and education exports ($26 billion), employment (142,000 jobs) and government finances ($259 billion).
- Research findings suggest the value assessment of new vaccines should consider a wider range of economic and societal factors in the future.
- Without COVID-19 vaccinations, new modelling indicates the pandemic would have reduced Australian GDP by an estimated $395 billion, far greater than the estimated $214 billion actual impact.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, 19 December 2022 – Biointelect and the Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University, with the support of Pfizer Australia, have published a peer-reviewed research paper titled The Value of Vaccines: A Tale of Two Parts in Vaccines. The research examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns on the Australian economy and demonstrates the positive economic and societal effects of the population-wide COVID-19 vaccinations rollout.[i]
The research demonstrated:
- Without vaccinations the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns were estimated to have impacted the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Australia by an estimated $395 billion.
- The timely rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations is estimated to have reduced the impact of the pandemic on the economy to an estimated $214 billion, resulting in a positive incremental benefit of $181 billion.
- The COVID-19 vaccinations rollout was also estimated to have contributed to large positive effects for tourism exports ($28 billion), education exports ($26 billion), employment (142,000 jobs) and government finances ($259 billion).
Although rigorously tested for efficacy and safety, the study outlines the unique considerations of the pandemic resulted in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations, in contrast to the typical formal health technology assessment of value, which generally only considers the direct patient health and healthcare system‐related costs.
Reflecting on the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic, publication co-author Jennifer Herz, Co-founder & Managing Director of Biointelect said: "This demonstrates how important the process put in place for the COVID-19 vaccines was, which is a credit to the Government and the Therapeutic Goods Administration."
"If the COVID-19 vaccines had been assessed under normal circumstances using the typical formal value assessment criteria and processes, a report by Shawview showed that approval could have taken up to 1,375 days and we would not have experienced the positive benefits of faster societal and economic recovery.[ii]
"Our study shows the benefits of the timely rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations extended beyond the health of Australians and the support of our healthcare system to result in an overall estimated $181 billion benefit to the wider economy", continued Jennifer Herz. "Our experience from the pandemic shows we should be thinking more broadly about the benefits of faster access to all available vaccines to our economy and society and consider the wider value new vaccines can provide."
Pfizer Australia & New Zealand Managing Director Anne Harris, said, the publication is further evidence that the health of our nation directly underpins the health of our economy.
"Pfizer is proud of the role its vaccines and medicines have played in the COVID-19 pandemic response. While the benefits to our economy and society are a result of a system-wide approach to tackling COVID-19, the timely rollout of vaccinations by the Government was critical to lessening the impact of the pandemic on our communities and enabling people to get back to doing the things they enjoy most", Ms Harris said.
"It also demonstrates the importance of preventive health and ongoing vaccination as a weapon in the arsenal against COVID-19 and future viral threats".
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