Keywords: vaccination, information, policy, economic evaluations

"Using information on the broader economic impact of vaccines in evidence-informed decision making; connecting the dots"

What type of information and how much of it do policymakers need to decide whether or not to introduce vaccines? Inge van der Putten explored this question in her dissertation. She identified twenty possible economic impacts of vaccination programmes, varying from the influence of vaccination on healthcare to wider impacts, such as its influence on employment. Providing the right information about the possible impact of vaccination programmes (e.g. through economic evaluations) would be preferred in theory. However, the research found different preferences among stakeholders and decision-makers, who prefer to use limited information to make their decisions.