Is it Time for a Federal "Vaccines for Adults" Program?
Would a program for US adults who are uninsured or underinsured help increase uptake rates for recommended immunizatons, for example, against influenza and pneumococcal disease? Would it make economic sense?
Data show uninsured adults are less likely to receive vaccines recommended by the CDC compared to those with insurance.
Would providing free vaccines reduce that gap? Would such a program pay for itself by reducing total health care costs?
Question 1: What were the respective percentages of White and Black children vaccinated against measles in 2021 by age 2 years?
Answer: C. 93% and 88% of White children and Black children, respectively, wre vaccinated against measles in 2021 by age 2 years.
Question 2: What percentage of working age Americans (aged 19 to 64 years) are uninsured?
Answer: B. 12% (23 million) Americans between the ages of 19 and 64 are uninsured.
Question 3: Medical economists have estimated the return on that investment (ie, money saved by preventing the most serious COVID disease in vaccine recipients) as which of the above?
Answer: D. The return on investment for the US governments multibillion dollar investement in COVID vaccine research, production, and purchase was 30-fold.
I read a June 21, 2023 Perspective feature in the New England Journal of Medicine written by scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases that answers the question comprehensively and clearly. This short slide show-plus-quiz-questions higlights their thoughts. A hyperlink to the full article is below.
Wallender E, Peacock G, Wharton M, Walensky RP. Uninsured and not immune--closing the vaccine-coverage gap for adults. N Engl J Med. Published online June 21, 2023. doi:10.1056/NEJMp2306200
