Centre for Health Economics Research and Modelling Infectious Diseases (CHERMID), Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute (VAXINFECTIO), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
Centre for Health Economics Research and Modelling Infectious Diseases (CHERMID), Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute (VAXINFECTIO), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; School of Public Health and Community Medicine, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Vaccine. 2021 Apr 1;39(14):2005-2015. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.02.020. Epub 2021 Feb 23.
Each year, up to 10% of unvaccinated adults contracts seasonal influenza, with half of this proportion developing symptoms. As a result, employers experience significant economic losses in terms of employee absenteeism. Influenza vaccines can be instrumental in reducing this burden. Workplace vaccination is expected to reduce employee absenteeism more than linearly as a result of positive externalities. It remains unclear whether workplace influenza vaccination yields a positive return on investment.
We simulated the spread of influenza in the seasons 2011-12 up to 2017-18 in Belgium by means of a compartmental transmission model. We accounted for age-specific social contact patterns and included reduced contact behavior when symptomatically infected. We simulated the impact of employer-funded influenza vaccination at the workplace and performed a cost-benefit analysis to assess the employers' return on workplace vaccination. Furthermore, we look into the cost-benefit of rewarding vaccinated employees by offering an additional day off.
Workplace vaccination reduced the burden of influenza both on the workplace and in the population at large. Compared to the current vaccine coverage - 21% in the population at large - an employee vaccine coverage of 90% could avert an additional 355 000 cases, of which about 150 000 in the employed population and 205 000 in the unemployed population. While seasonal influenza vaccination has been cost-saving on average at about €10 per vaccinated employee, the cost-benefit analysis was prone to between-season variability.
Vaccinated employees can serve as a barrier to limit the spread of influenza in the population, reducing the attack rate by 78% at an employee coverage of 90%. While workplace vaccination is relatively inexpensive (due to economies of scale) and convenient, the return on investment is volatile. Government subsidies can be pivotal to encourage employers to provide vaccination at the workplace with positive externalities to society as a whole.
每年，多达 10%的未接种成年人会感染季节性流感，其中一半人会出现症状。因此，雇主因员工缺勤而遭受重大经济损失。流感疫苗可以在减轻这种负担方面发挥重要作用。由于存在外部性，工作场所接种疫苗预计会使员工缺勤率呈非线性下降。目前尚不清楚工作场所流感疫苗接种是否会带来正投资回报。
我们使用一个隔室传播模型模拟了 2011-12 年至 2017-18 年期间在比利时流感的传播。我们考虑了特定年龄的社会接触模式，并在出现症状时降低了接触行为。我们模拟了雇主在工作场所资助流感疫苗接种的影响，并进行了成本效益分析，以评估雇主对工作场所疫苗接种的投资回报。此外，我们还探讨了通过为接种疫苗的员工提供额外休假一天来奖励他们的成本效益。
工作场所接种疫苗减轻了流感对工作场所和整个人群的负担。与目前人群中的疫苗接种率（21%）相比，员工接种率达到 90%可避免额外的 355000 例病例，其中约 150000 例在就业人群中，205000 例在失业人群中。季节性流感疫苗接种的平均成本效益约为每位接种疫苗的员工节省 10 欧元，但成本效益分析容易受到季节性波动的影响。
接种疫苗的员工可以作为限制流感在人群中传播的屏障，当员工接种率达到 90%时，可将发病率降低 78%。虽然工作场所接种疫苗相对便宜（由于规模经济）且方便，但投资回报波动较大。政府补贴可以起到关键作用，鼓励雇主为员工提供工作场所疫苗接种，从而为整个社会带来正外部性。
