Although the government’s COVID-19 vaccine supply will likely run out this summer or fall, other uninsured people will still have to, depending on the companies that make the vaccines.
Moderna pledged Wednesday to make its Spikevax vaccine available for free to the uninsured through its patient assistance program.
“Everyone in the U. S. “The U. S. will have to receive Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, regardless of their ability to pay,” according to the statement.
Pfizer, which makes the Comirnaty vaccine with its German partner BioNTech, has already promised that uninsured U. S. citizens will be covered through its own patient assistance program.
“This is a huge, huge step in the right direction,” said Dr. Brown. Julie Morita, executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, on business commitments.
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Morita said Wednesday night that he was referring to the uninsured, many of whom have been hardest hit by the pandemic, being disadvantaged in accessing COVID-19 vaccines.
“These are our frontline staff who carry out many purposes in our society,” he said, but they had higher rates of illness and death from the virus.
It’s unclear whether other uninsured people will still be guilty of the charge of administering the vaccine, which can charge anywhere from $25 to $40 depending on the dose.
People covered by advertising or insurance will continue to receive loose vaccines.
Since COVID-19 vaccines first became available in late 2020, the U. S. government has been working on the Internet. The U. S. has spent more than $30 billion to develop, purchase and distribute nearly 960 million doses, making vaccines available to everyone.
But since the country’s COVID-19 public fitness emergency is set to expire on May 11, officials said they would only buy more and supply loose injections until existing materials ran out, most likely this summer or fall.
Corporate means that no one will face a political rift.
First, the government paid Pfizer $19. 50 per dose and Moderna $15. 25 per dose, but for the 105 million bivalent booster doses, the charge was $30. 48 per Pfizer dose and $26. 36 per Moderna dose, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study.
Moderna has recommended an advertising value for Spikevax between $82 and $100 depending on the dosage. Pfizer said the value of Comirnacy’s listing would be $110 to $130 based on the single-dose vial for patients 12 years of age and older.
Pfizer said the key differences are worth accumulating as it transitions from a government-run style to an advertising style, adding the charge of distributing vaccines outside the government, the need for expensive single-dose vials instead of multi-dose vials and higher transportation costs.
Pfizer has pledged to continue offering discounted doses to low- and middle-income countries.
Contact Karen Weintraub at kweintraub@usatoday. com.
USA TODAY’s fitness and patient protection policy is made possible in part through a grant from the Masimo Foundation for health care ethics, innovation and competence. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial contributions.