The Health Scare of COVID-19: Implication of Pandemics and the immune-related pharmaceutical products spillovers in USA 

Abstract

In view of the sector-wide effect of the nCOVID-19 pandemic in the United States and the probable effect on certain over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical products, the current study examined potential inflation in the pharmaceutical industry due to uncertainty in pandemics. In this case, the United States’ producer price indexes vis-à-vis inflation of the immune-related pharmaceutical items: multivitamin, vitamins nutrients and hematinic (V-N-H), other vitamins (other-V), antidepressant, and antidiabetic were examined alongside the uncertainties arising from the world pandemic and economic policy. Thus, the Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) result implied that the world pandemic uncertainty contributed a significantly huge shock to the entire elements such that the shocks to V-N-H and multivitamins are larger than the other examined pharmaceutical compounds. Importantly, the statistical evidence implied that uncertainty arising from pandemic is responsible for the severity of shock received by the indicated pharmaceutical products as against economic policy uncertainty. Thus, a relevant policy inference is posited from the result of the study.