After receiving $1. 7 billion in cash from U. S. taxpayers to expand its covid-19 mRNA vaccine and $26. 36 per dose from the U. S. government, it is not possible to expand its covid-19 mRNA vaccine. What happens if we quadruple the value of the vaccine?Yes, apparently, Moderna is contemplating increasing the value of its COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to $110 or $130 depending on the dose. That’s what Moderna CEO and billionaire Stéphane Bancel recently told reporter Peter Loftus for an article published in the Wall Street Journal. This worthwhile construction can go into effect as soon as the government’s existing source of Moderna Covid-19 vaccines runs out or expires.
Yes, doing something less capable regularly doesn’t inspire more people to wear it, unless you’re talking about haute couture clothing, yachts, or wine. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) questioned this possible Moderna move in the same sensible, sensible way like a freight train. He wrote a letter to Bancel. And it wasn’t a “how are you?” letter. It was more like “What are you doing? Sanders asked Moderna’s CEO to “reconsider his resolve and refrain from any additional value increases” and warned that “millions of Americans would not be able to receive vaccines at the new price. “Sanders also called the potential price increase “outrageous. “
If you’re wondering who will go on to pay for this potential increase in value, go to the bathroom, look directly in the mirror, point your finger forward, and say, “That’s you. It’s always been you. ” In the letter, Sanders noted that the imaginable increase in value would place a much heavier burden on Medicare and Medicaid, which are ultimately funded from his wallet. This assumes that you actually pay taxes. And if you expect personal insurance to cover the difference in value, that’s not how insurance works. Insurance plans will distribute the additional charge as bean sauce among all their members in the form of higher premiums. That’s why Sanders wrote to Bancel: “Your resolution will charge taxpayers billions of dollars. “
Again, this wouldn’t be the first time taxpayers have paid a lot of money on Moderna. Plus, it’s not like Moderna is creating the vaccine on its own. Sanders noted in the letter to Bancel: “I find your resolution offensive given that the vaccine was co-evolved in partnership with scientists at the National Institutes of Health, a U. S. government company. “U. S. taxpayer-funded U. S. taxpayers. “U. S. “
Why is Moderna even thinking about this increase in value?Don’t have enough money to buy toilet paper in their bathroom or coffee filters in their break room?Quite the opposite. The company posted a profit of $12. 2 billion in 2021 and then another $6. 9 billion in the first nine months of 2022. So, the answer is no, they don’t seem to be short of cash.
Are they struggling to pay rent or put food on the table?Not exactly. Sanders noted that the estimated net worth of Moderna executives and investors is billions: Bancel with $6100 million, Moderna co-founder and chairman Noubar Afeyan with $2100 million, Moderna co-founder Robert Langer with $2200 million and Moderna founding investor. , Timothy Springer, at $2. 6 billion. All those other people can thank American taxpayers for their fortunes or at least contribute particularly to them. To this, Sanders’ letter said: “The goal of recent taxpayer investment in Moderna to protect the fitness and lives of other Americans, not to turn a handful of corporate executives and investors into billionaires.
Sanders also tweeted the following that pits Jonas Salk, MD, who invented the polio vaccine but did not patent it, in opposition to Bancel, who did not invent the covid-19 vaccine, who is more of a businessman than a scientist, and who began his pharmaceutical career as a sales manager at Eli Lilly and Company:
From Twitter
As you can see, Sanders ended his tweet with “End this greed. “Robert Reich, J. D. , who was U. S. Secretary of LaborAdded the word “G” in the following tweet:
From Twitter
Moderna is not alone in contemplating such a walk for its covid-19 vaccines. In October 2022, Michael Erman informed Reuters that Pfizer “plans to roughly quadruple the value of its covid-19 vaccine to around $110 to $130 consistent with the dose after the existing U. S. government procurement program expires. “”U. S. “
This is another explanation for why you want there to be a wider diversity of covid-19 vaccine manufacturers and vaccines to choose from than those recently available. It cannot be assumed that the mRNA of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines are alpha and omega. It would have been like preventing with the PalmPilot in the 1990s and saying, “It’s as smart as phones will be. “Relying so heavily on just two corporations puts the U. S. in a state of government. The U. S. in a precarious position.
The increase in the festival will lead to better vaccines and prevent costs from spiraling out of control. Remember 2020, when several other brands were introducing other COVID-19 vaccine candidates. What happened to them? Well, Novavax Covid-19 vaccines that use recombinant protein generation finally hit the market and received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as I reported for Forbes. However, it doesn’t seem to hear as much about this as the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. And what about other vaccine technologies that are at other stages of the study pipeline?Perhaps Biden’s management can find other tactics to give them more attention and support.
Moderna and Pfizer’s concepts to quadruple their vaccine costs come at an inopportune time for the United States. There will have to be a transparent plan on how the United States will deal with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2) move forward to help transition from Covid-19 to a more seasonal viral situation. COVID-19 vaccines are expected to play a key role in this strategy if enough people end up getting vaccinated. And that wouldn’t happen if many don’t have to pay them or can’t even them.
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