As we all know there have been a lot of strong emotions regarding vaccinations. Some refuse because they are at high risk, others because they figure their risk of COVID complications are low, others simply out of fear or laziness under the guise of patriotism or anti-socialism. There have been plenty of arguments for health benefits of the vaccine, the importance of vaccinating to end the pandemic and to protect those around you. An alternative argument is financial benefit.
A few years ago a couple of economists at Pfizer and the Harvard School of Public Health looked into DTaP vaccination rates around the world. Using a classically tested economic model, they showed that vaccination rates today improve economic growth as measured in gross domestic product this year, the year after and every year for at least 15 years in the future. It's not rocket science to figure out why; healthy people are able to go to work, are more productive at work and are able to continue working until older ages. Vaccinated children grow up to be productive members of society and parents are able to go to work more often instead of taking care of their kids at home, taking them to the doctor or the hospital. Putting it into numbers, a 1% increase in DTaP vaccination was predicted to increase the GDP growth rate by an additional 0.05%. This translates into billions of dollars that is compounded every year.
In October of last year the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a report that showed that COVID-19 vaccinations had a large statistically significant effect on economic activity. As in the DTaP vaccine, the COVID vaccine was so successful in protecting the studied populations from disease that it translated into more productivity.
Of course there are always exceptions; those who are at risk of complications from the vaccine will of course be less productive if they develop myocarditis or blood clots. But for the average healthy individual, unless they've been living in a bunker for the last three years with no plan to resurface, the free vaccine is one of the best health and financial investment opportunities created. The "patriots" that refuse the vaccine because it is a socialist idea are actually pretty terrible capitalists too.
No comments:
Post a Comment