Between 2020 and 2023, the COVID-19 pandemic claimed the lives of 941,425 Americans over the age of 65. These deaths were not part of the expected mortality rates — they were above and beyond what we would normally see in this age group.
Each of these individuals was a parent, a grandparent, a neighbor, a friend. The emotional toll on families and communities is immeasurable. But there’s another side of this tragedy that isn’t often discussed — the financial impact on Social Security.
The average monthly Social Security benefit for a retiree is approximately $1,999.97. Multiply that by the number of seniors we lost, and you arrive at a shocking figure: $1.89 billion less paid out every month. That’s a total reduction of $22.7 billion per year in Social Security disbursements. These savings are not the result of policy or reform — they’re the result of mass loss of life.
And yet, even with these reduced outlays, we’re repeatedly told that Social Security is on the brink of collapse. While we must take the long-term health of the program seriously, it’s important to question the narrative that Social Security is irreparably broken. Recent years have brought unexpected relief to the system, albeit at a devastating human cost.
We can’t exaggerate the importance of the covid vaccine in ending this awful pandemic.
Concerning is the growing political opposition to vaccines. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the current United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, has repeatedly voiced distrust of vaccines, including those that have saved millions of lives during the pandemic.
This raises an urgent question: What happens if someone like RFK Jr. who has been given this office enacts policy based on personal vaccine skepticism? Medicare decides which vaccines to pay for primarily based on recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). RFK Jr. has replaced this Advisory Committee with the vaccine skeptical.
Here’s one possible outcome: Medicare and Medicaid could stop paying for vaccines, making them inaccessible to the very people who need them most. In my own town, a flu shot costs $135 if you purchase out of pocket. Many seniors and low-income families simply cannot afford that. Vaccination has never just been a personal choice — it’s a public health strategy. And policy decisions that undermine access could result in more preventable deaths, more strain on our healthcare system, and more unnecessary grief.
We must be able to talk about difficult truths. The Social Security system is not untouched by the pandemic — it has benefited financially from the loss of its recipients. And the future health of our elderly population is under threat if vaccine access is politicized or stripped away. But it’s not just the elderly, it’s anyone who benefits from protection from diseases, dangerous diseases that can cost you your life.