Vaccines Save Lives: Tens of Millions of Deaths Prevented

The Vaccine Alliance, Gavi, predicts it has prevented 18.8 million deaths since its launch in 2000.

“Broadly, the impact of vaccines is calculated by projecting what a world without vaccines would look like in terms of disease, then comparing that to the actual disease burden – the difference we see is the health impact of vaccines,” says Katy Gaythorpe, research lead at the Vaccine Impact Modelling Consortium with Imperial College London.

The calculations were determined based on 12 antigens that were delivered to 78 developing nations: cholera, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b, human papillomavirus, Japanese encephalitis, measles, meningococcal A, pneumococcal, rotavirus, rubella, typhoid, and yellow fever. The calculated 18.8 million saved lives is a “conservative” estimate, as the Vaccine Alliance only considered the impact of vaccines, which they supported. Another study published in 2021 by the Vaccine Impact Modelling Consortium estimates that immunizations will prevent a total of 97 million deaths over the 2000 to 2030 period.