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<p>The pandemic has taken a heavy toll, but the damage could be so much worse without vaccines.</p>

Analysts Suggest U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Program Prevented Millions of Hospitalizations, Deaths

December 17, 2021

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By Jonathan Springston, Editor, Relias Media

One year after clinicians administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, an analysis released this week reveals the vaccine prevented an estimated 1.1 million deaths and averted more than 10 million hospitalizations.

The U.S. recently surpassed another grim pandemic milestone, but analysts at The Commonwealth Fund estimate that if no vaccine existed, daily COVID-19 deaths could have climbed as high as 21,000, well above the record of 4,000 daily deaths set in January 2021.

“The U.S. vaccination program campaign has profoundly altered the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the analysts wrote. “Even with only about 60% of Americans vaccinated to date, the nation has dodged a massive wave of COVID-19 deaths that would have started as the delta variant took hold in August 2021. Because of delta’s rapid and nationwide spread, deaths due to COVID-19 would have far exceeded all previous peaks.”

Without a vaccine program, analysts noted the rate of coronavirus-related hospitalizations could have been almost five times higher than it actually was. To put this in context, the authors explained how there are more than 900,000 licensed hospital beds in the United States, which handle around 36 million hospitalizations annually. There have been 2.6 million COVID-related hospitalizations in 2021 so far, which were enough to push the entire system to a near breaking point.

“Our estimates suggest that in 2021 alone, the vaccination program prevented a potentially catastrophic flood of patients requiring hospitalization. It is difficult to imagine how hospitals would have coped had they been faced with 10 million people sick enough to require admission,” the analysts wrote. “Faced with such unprecedented demand, U.S. hospitals operating under crisis standards of care would likely have had no choice but to turn away tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of individuals.”

The rate of eligible Americans who are fully vaccinated is disappointingly low, but clinicians can help. A survey from the CDC indicates adults are more likely to be vaccinated if their clinician recommended patients seek the available shots.

For more Relias Media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, please click here.