Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33632802›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2021

Vaccinating the oldest against COVID-19 saves both the most lives and most years of life.

Joshua R Goldstein, Thomas Cassidy, Kenneth W Wachter

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
51citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

51 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Joshua R GoldsteinDepartment of Demography, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720; josh.goldstein@berkeley.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5936-5464
Thomas CassidyDepartment of Mathematics, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7534-261X
Kenneth W WachterDepartment of Demography, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2802-2212

Funding

Program Development (Pilot)P30AG012839 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · PI William H Dow · 1999 to 2026
$18.6M
Dev-Core-001P2CHD073964 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · PI EDWARD ANDREW MIGUEL · 2019 to 2026
$2.9M
CenSoc: A New, Public, Individual-level Dataset for Studying Mortality InequalityR01AG058940 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · PI GOLDSTEIN, JOSHUA R. · 2019 to 2023
$2.9M
Workshops in Formal DemographyR25HD083136 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · PI JOSHUA R. GOLDSTEIN · 2015 to 2026
$1.7M
ETIOLOGY OF EXCESS GNRH/LH PULSATILE SECRETION IN PCOSF32HD008313 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CHARLOTTESVILLE · PI PASTOR, CARMEN L · 1997 to 1997
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NIA NIH HHS 5P30AG012839NIA NIH HHS P30 AG012839NIA NIH HHS R01 AG058940NICHD NIH HHS F32 HD008313NICHD NIH HHS P2C HD073964NICHD NIH HHS R25 HD083136NIH NICHD R25HD08313
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Many competing criteria are under consideration for prioritizing COVID-19 vaccination. Two criteria based on age are demographic: lives saved and years of future life saved. Vaccinating the very old against COVID-19 saves the most lives, but, since older age is accompanied by falling life expectancy, it is widely supposed that these two goals are in conflict. We show this to be mistaken. The age patterns of COVID-19 mortality are such that vaccinating the oldest first saves the most lives and, surprisingly, also maximizes years of remaining life expectancy. We demonstrate this relationship empirically in the United States, Germany, and South Korea and with mathematical analysis of life tables. Our age-risk results, under usual conditions, also apply to health risks.

Indexed as

Life ExpectancyModels, BiologicalSARS-CoV-2VaccinationAgedAged, 80 and overAge FactorsCOVID-19COVID-19 VaccinesFemaleHumansMaleRisk FactorsCOVID-19 VaccinesageCOVID-19demographyvaccineyears of life lost

Identifiers

PMID33632802
PMCPMC7980436

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.