Unvaccinated people are costing the economy billions

Plus: Covid accelerated digitization of auto sales, but it still lags

Reuters has a feature this morning highlighting the economic costs of vaccine hesitancy, which the report describes as a “financial risk for individuals, companies and publicly funded programs.” Using data from the Kaiser Family Foundation and other sources, Reuters estimates that vaccine hesitancy has cost the economy over $23 billion in the form of Covid hospitalizations alone. And both employers and insurance companies are likely to put more of that economic burden on those who choose not to be vaccinated.   

“[A]fter global life insurance providers were hit with a higher-than-expected $5.5 billion in claims during the first nine months of 2021, insurers will be looking to calibrate premiums more closely to COVID mortality risks going forward,” the report says. It also notes that many employers are also increasing health insurance premiums for those who don’t get vaccinated for Covid. Delta, for example, is charging employees an extra $200 per month, citing an average cost of $50,000 for employees who are hospitalized.

Also one quick correction, yesterday's subject line mentioned AstraZeneca’s “antibiotic” but it’s actually an antibody, as discussed in the intro. 

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What Else We Are Reading

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• Your disposable COVID masks could be reborn as fuel (Popular Science)

• How we got herd immunity wrong (Stat News)