Why the study?
COVID-19 prompted a high-profile proposal to reintroduce oral poliovirus vaccine in the United States, prompting an evaluation of logistical challenges and health economic implications.
Does reintroducing oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) to prevent COVID-19 in the US provide health and economic benefits?
Population
331 million Americans
Comparison
Single dose of bivalent OPV vs no reintroduction
Design
Health economic modeling study
Key result
Reintroducing oral poliovirus vaccine to the U.S. population for COVID-19 prevention would cost over $4.4 billion and cause an expected 40 cases of vaccine-associated paralytic polio.
Authors
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Reintroducing OPV for COVID-19 is unjustified by costs and polio risk; leaves open no role in U.S. response strategies.
Does reintroducing oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) to prevent COVID-19 in the US provide health and economic benefits?
Health economic modeling suggests no role for reintroducing OPV into the U.S. to respond to COVID-19 due to high costs, risks of paralytic polio, and negative impact on global polio eradication efforts.
Thompson et al. (2020) studied COVID-19 (n=331,000,000). Oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) was evaluated on Costs and vaccine-associated paralytic polio cases. Reintroducing oral poliovirus vaccine to the U.S. population for COVID-19 prevention would cost over $4.4 billion and cause an expected 40 cases of vaccine-associated paralytic polio.