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Quantifying the Social Value of a Universal COVID-19 Vaccine and Incentivizing Its Development

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  • Rachel Glennerster
  • Thomas Kelly
  • Claire T. McMahon
  • Christopher M. Snyder

Abstract

A booster of the COVID-19 vaccine targeting the prevailing Omicron variant did not become available in the United States until a year after the variant was first detected. This pattern of developing, testing, and distributing a variant-specific booster may become the default response to further waves of COVID-19 caused by new variants. An innovation with realistic scientific potential—a universal COVID-19 vaccine, effective against existing and future variants—could provide much more value by preempting new variants. Averaged across Monte Carlo simulations, we estimate the incremental value to the U.S. population of a universal COVID-19 vaccine to be $1.5–$2.6 trillion greater than variant-specific boosters (depending on how the arrival rate of variants is modeled). This social value eclipses the cost of an advance market commitment to incentivize the universal vaccine by several orders of magnitude.

Suggested Citation

  • Rachel Glennerster & Thomas Kelly & Claire T. McMahon & Christopher M. Snyder, 2024. "Quantifying the Social Value of a Universal COVID-19 Vaccine and Incentivizing Its Development," NBER Working Papers 32059, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32059
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    Cited by:

    1. Glenn Ellison, 2024. "Implications of heterogeneous SIR models for analyses of COVID-19," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 28(4), pages 651-687, December.
    2. Christopher Norio Avery & David McAdams, 2024. "The economics of epidemics: introduction to the special issue," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 28(4), pages 631-637, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • L65 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Chemicals; Rubber; Drugs; Biotechnology; Plastics

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