Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable, but often include fever, cough, headache, fatigue, breathing difficulties, and loss of smell and taste. Symptoms may begin one to fourteen days after exposure to the virus. COVID-19 transmits when people breathe in air contaminated by droplets and small airborne particles containing the virus. The present analysis aims to define the cost-effectiveness profile of the anti-COVID vaccination campaign in the Italian healthcare setting.

The analysis was based on the collection and analysis of data regarding the number of hospitalizations (ordinary regime and intensive care) and infections recorded by the Italian Ministry of Health in vaccinated and unvaccinated patient cohorts. The acquisition costs of the available vaccine alternatives were considered as well as the cost of the personnel involved in the vaccination campaign. The reduction in hospitalizations was considered as a measure of effectiveness. We have compared the current scenario of campaign vaccination versus a scenario in which the total of the eligible population would be vaccinated. Results are reported in terms of Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratio (ICER). Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were carried out in order to test the robustness of the results.

The vaccination campaign allowed for savings amounting to EUR 9,398,012.10 (EUR 60,499,053.25 vs EUR 69,897,065.35) and 6,647 hospitalizations avoided (715 and 5,932 in the intensive care and ordinary regimen, respectively), thus resulting a dominant strategy as compared with the alternative (no vaccination). As the cost-effectiveness profile of the campaign improves, we should consider the period (May-July 2021), during which the daily threshold of 500,000 doses administered on a national basis was consistently exceeded.

The analysis underlined how the vaccination campaign represents a cost-saving alternative in the Italian healthcare setting.