AZ Chamber Business News – Economist: Vaccinations Fastest Route to Arizona Economic Recovery
As Covid-19 continues to take its toll on Arizonans’ health and impact hospital capacity, many citizens have no plans to get immunized even though an effective vaccine is available, recent polls indicate.
That’s alarming to the medical community and business groups that came together this week to discuss the economic impacts of getting vaccinated — or not.
Vaccines are one of the nation’s most important “economic development” tools to prevent the societal and financial costs that come with disease outbreaks, said Arizona economist Jim Rounds, who spoke at the event entitled, How Vaccines Impact Arizona’s Economy.
“That’s the most cost effective, highest return on investment, economic development project we have ever seen in this country and it has to do with distribution of vaccines,” Rounds said.
AZBio (Arizona Bioindustry Association) and a coalition of health and community organizations hosted the discussion to highlight the importance of vaccines to the state’s health and welfare.
Fifteen medical and business organizations sponsored the event including the Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Arizona Academy of Family Physicians, Arizona Nurses Association, Arizona Medical Association, Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Children’s Action Alliance, Grand Canyon University, and Greater Phoenix Leadership.
