Vaccination: Public health’s best tool for prevention of communicable disease
Economic burden estimated at $11B+/year
Michelle Gourdine, MD, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer
Vaccines are some of the most potent tools available to prevent communicable disease like the flu, measles, and chickenpox. As science has evolved, we’ve been able to completely eradicate some diseases, increasing life spans and creating herd immunity. However, other viruses are smart and can mutate – giving them staying power and the ability to evade people’s immunity. This is why getting boosters for seasonal illnesses like COVID-19 and the flu are strongly recommended. In addition to the public health impacts, widespread vaccination is good for business.
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VACCINATIONS: THEY'RE GOOD FOR BUSINESS
Michelle Gourdine, MD
SVP & Chief Medical Officer
CVS Caremark
Why should employers and payors care about employee vaccinations?
Employee vaccinations are a really essential part of business continuity plans. Illnesses affect not only employees, but they affect their families, their ability to work, and quite frankly, the employers bottom line.
Illnesses impact:
• Employees
• Their families
• Employers
• Society
up to 75% of employees missed work when they had a flu-like illness
That's why from a business perspective, it's not only important for employees to be vaccinated, but also their family members as well.
2-3 days average work missed per illness
If an unvaccinated child is home from school due to preventable illness, a parent or caregiver may need to miss work in order to take care of them, putting unnecessary strain on the remaining workforce.
1-2 days average work missed to care for someone with a flu-like illness
How can you promote vaccinations in the workplace?
As an employer, you can spread awareness about the importance and effectiveness of vaccinations in a number of ways, making it easy and convenient to get vaccines through vaccination programs, covering vaccinations at no or low cost. You might want to offer the flexibility to take an hour or two to get vaccinated at a convenient location, or you might want to host an on-site clinic. And finally, consider providing information for your employees to take home and share with their families and loved ones.
How do we remove barriers for members who don't have a PCP?
Our vaccination program removes barriers for members who either don't have a PCP or who lack convenient options, making it easy to connect your employees with the vaccines they need to be healthy.
CVS Health vaccination program:
• Accessible and convenient
• Network of more than 66,000 pharmacies
• More affordable
Contact your account team for materials to promote vaccine awareness with your employees.
CVS Caremark
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Vaccines are effective and convenient
Neighborhood pharmacists are uniquely positioned to have the conversations necessary to counter people’s misconceptions and instill a greater level of trust in the safety and efficacy of vaccinations. Many of the vaccines recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)* can be received at locations throughout the country:
- Flu
- COVID-19
- Herpes Zoster (Shingles)
- Pneumococcal (Pneumonia)
- Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis)
- MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella)
- Varicella (Chickenpox)
- Hepatitis B
- HPV (Human Papillomavirus)
The CDC conducts annual studies to measure how effective flu vaccines are at preventing flu illness and its associated complications. The age and health of the vaccinated person and how well-matched vaccines are to the circulating virus strains will influence their effectiveness. While vaccine effectiveness varies from year to year, recent studies show that flu vaccinations reduce the risk of flu illness by 40 to 60 percent.1
The flu’s impact on business and society
The flu and flu-like illnesses have a tremendous impact on people’s health and well-being. Each year, the CDC estimates the burden of influenza (flu) in the United States. From October 1, 2023, through June 15, 2024, CDC estimates2 that there have been:
- 35 – 65 million flu illnesses
- 16 – 30 million flu medical visits
- 390,000 – 830,000 flu hospitalizations
- 25,000 – 72,000 flu deaths
From a business perspective, these illnesses also impact employees’ ability to work, affecting employers’ bottom lines and the society that relies on the resulting goods, products, or services: 3
- Up to 75 percent of employees missed work when they had a flu-like illness
- Average 2-3 days out of work per illness
- Most caregivers missed an average of 1-2 days of work to care for someone with a flu-like illness
Costs are broken into direct medical costs, which originate from inpatient and outpatient care, and indirect medical costs, including lost productivity.
Cost of vaccine-preventable disease to the US economy:4
$3.2B / year direct medical costs
$8B / year indirect medical costs
There are less visible effects as well. If an unvaccinated child is home from school due to a preventable disease, a parent or caregiver may need to miss work. Not surprisingly, people who received their flu vaccinations missed less time from work3 compared with their unvaccinated peers. And less time out of work equates to less strain on your labor force and increased productivity.
We know that you care about your employees as workers and as people. Our vaccination program removes barriers for members who either don’t have a PCP or lack convenient options, making it easy to connect your employees with the vaccines they need to get healthy.
Our vaccine program helps improve plan member health and lowers costs, delivering 100% of all CDC-recommended vaccines5 at a neighborhood pharmacy.
As we approach another cold and flu season, we want to equip you with the tools you need to keep your employees – and their families – as healthy as possible. Contact your account team for materials to promote vaccine awareness with your employees.
*Additional vaccines are recommended for adults with additional risk, other indications, or shared clinical decision-making.
Discover additional insights
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2 https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm. CDC uses modeling to estimate the number of flu-associated illnesses, medical visits, hospitalizations and deaths that occur in the U.S. in a given season. Because influenza (flu) surveillance does not capture all cases of flu that occur in the U.S., CDC provides these estimated ranges to better reflect the larger burden of flu. These estimates are calculated based on data collected through CDC’s Influenza Hospitalization Surveillance Network (FluSurv-NET) and are preliminary.
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3 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40273-022-01224-9. A review of medical studies from 1995 to 2007 reported how having the flu or a flu-like illness causes people to miss work. The paper was updated using the same approach and found 63 new studies from 2007 to February 2022.
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5 Our vaccination program options help lower plan and member out-of-pocket costs. They remove the access barrier for many members who either don’t have a PCP, lack convenient access, or may not feel comfortable sitting in their doctor’s waiting room during the pandemic. In addition to providing convenient access to 100% of CDC-recommended vaccines that can be administered in a retail setting, our vaccination programs provide a trusted access point. Our stores and clinicians follow comprehensive plans to ensure the safety of our employees and customers.
