Potentially preventable COVID-19 hospitalizations have cost the U.S. billions of dollars, a new analysis finds.
The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) looked at hospitalization costs for unvaccinated people across the country since June 2021.
Researchers estimate that 287,000 hospitalizations have occurred over the past three months, including 187,000 in August alone.
Each one of these hospitalizations costs an average of $20,000, meaning that there was $5.7 billion in preventable health care spending over the past three months.
Researchers from KFF also note that this is a conservative estimate, meaning the true costs could be even higher.
A KFF analysis finds that more than $5.7 billion was spent by Americans on preventable Covid hospitalizations from June to August 2021
Researchers estimate that 287,000 hospitalizations have occurred over the past three months, mostly unvaccinated adults. Pictured: Staff members help a newly arriving 81-year-old COVID-19 patient get settled into the ICU ward at Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago, December 2020
Every single adult in the U.S. has been eligible for the Covid vaccine since about May with every state fully opening its rollout in the spring.
This means that, in practice, 250 million Americans are able to get the jabs - barring specific medical or religious circumstances preventing it and not including teens aged 12 and older, who are also eligible.
Many have still not received the shots, however.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 74
