Skip to content

Offering free flu shots to all saves lives: study

Ontario’s universal seasonal flu vaccine program is a cost-effective measure because it reduces the number of people who get sick, averts hospital admissions and saves lives, an economic analysis suggests.

TORONTO — Ontario’s universal seasonal flu vaccine program is a cost-effective measure because it reduces the number of people who get sick, averts hospital admissions and saves lives, an economic analysis suggests.

The province spends an estimated $40 million a year on the universal program, which offers free vaccination against seasonal influenza to any resident aged six months and older.

Before its introduction in 2000, Ontario provided free flu shots only to targeted groups, including health providers, people 65 and older, and those with underlying medical conditions that put them at risk of complications from the disease.

That earlier program took an estimated $20 million a year from provincial coffers, said lead author Beate Sander, a doctoral student in health policy, management and evaluation at the University of Toronto.

“So it looks like that’s a lot of money, it’s double the cost, right?” said Sander. “But did we save so many cases? Did we save quite a bit in costs?”

In fact, the study found that since the universal program began, it has cut seasonal flu-related health-care costs by 52 per cent, for an average annual saving of $7.8 million.

“It’s a good use of money,” Sander said.

The study, which analyzed hospital and other health data from 1997 to 2004, determined the universal vaccination program was much more effective than its targeted predecessor and those in most of the other provinces in reducing the burden of seasonal flu.

Nunavut also has a universal flu shot program and the two other northern territories have programs that approximate universal free access.

Alberta’s universal flu shot program just took effect last fall.

The Ontario researchers said 22,457 cases of medically attended seasonal influenza occurred on average per season after the universal program was begun, down 61 per cent from the 56,998 cases per average season before its introduction.

Sander said opening up the program to virtually all comers prevented 34,541 cases of flu each season and an estimated 111 influenza-related deaths, a 28 per cent reduction.

Furthermore, the universal program was estimated to have prevented 786 hospital admissions (a 46 per cent reduction), 7,745 emergency room visits (down 61 per cent) and 30,306 visits to doctors (a 61 per cent reduction) per season.