The vital importance of the clinical trial industry was just affirmed by a new study estimating the COVID-19 vaccination program prevented nearly 280,000 additional deaths and up to 1.25 million hospitalizations by the end of June 2021.
“If there had been no vaccination program, daily deaths from COVID-19 potentially would have jumped to nearly 4,500 deaths per day during a second ‘2021 spring surge’—eclipsing the observed daily peak of 4,000 during the first 2021 winter surge,” says the new report from The Commonwealth Fund.
“Clinical trial practitioners should be incredibly proud of their historic role in developing and distributing effective vaccines at record speed,” said Susan Landis, executive director of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP). “Every step of the way, our members have helped to accelerate and advance the response to the pandemic—from recruitment for and management of interventional trials to designing intricate population health studies that will evaluate the long-term effects of COVID-19. Clinical research professionals are the heroes behind the scenes who have made COVID-19 research possible.”
“Our results demonstrate the extraordinary impact of rapidly vaccinating a large share of the population to prevent hospitalizations and deaths…the speed of vaccination seems to have prevented another potential wave of the U.S. pandemic in April,” The Commonwealth Fund report added.
The U.S. has “supported the development of highly efficacious vaccines, granting emergency authorizations and delivering the products at an unprecedented pace,” the study noted.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused nearly 4 million deaths worldwide, with more than 600,000 fatalities in the United States. As of July 2, the U.S. had administered more than 328 million vaccine doses, with 67% of adults having received at least one dose. The number of cases has fallen from more than 300,000 per day at the height of the pandemic in January 2021, to fewer than 20,000 per day as of mid-June.
Edited by Michael Causey
