I would agree that 200 USD is a low estimate for the cost of the experience of being sick. The reason I chose that figure was because I was trying to show that getting flu shots was still an activity with positive expected value for healthy adults, even given uncharitable assumptions. If you value not getting sick with the flu as being worth more than 200 USD, then the expected value that you would derive from receiving yearly flu vaccinations would be even higher than the figure cited in the report.
Also, note that the reason I did the calculation for healthy adults, rather than for, say, an average person living in a first-world country, is because healthy adults don’t benefit quite as much from getting the vaccine as other demographics do. So, if getting a flu shot is preferable to not getting a flu shot for healthy adults, then getting a flu shot is even more preferable to not getting a flu shot for other demographics.
I would agree that 200 USD is a low estimate for the cost of the experience of being sick. The reason I chose that figure was because I was trying to show that getting flu shots was still an activity with positive expected value for healthy adults, even given uncharitable assumptions. If you value not getting sick with the flu as being worth more than 200 USD, then the expected value that you would derive from receiving yearly flu vaccinations would be even higher than the figure cited in the report.
Also, note that the reason I did the calculation for healthy adults, rather than for, say, an average person living in a first-world country, is because healthy adults don’t benefit quite as much from getting the vaccine as other demographics do. So, if getting a flu shot is preferable to not getting a flu shot for healthy adults, then getting a flu shot is even more preferable to not getting a flu shot for other demographics.