What is reasonable? COVID-19 is largely off the radar for most Americans. However, as with the flu, we can expect a new outbreak of covid-19 later this year. This prompted Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services, to warn the biopharmaceutical industry about the costs of the next generation of vaccines.
“The updated covid-19 vaccines that will hit the market this fall deserve to be moderately priced, reflecting the price it earned through U. S. government investment. “”I’m in the U. S. ,” he said. The habit of raising prices benefits from accepting as true with Americans that other people have put on you through the Covid-19 response. “
Unfortunately, Becerra’s rhetoric reinforces many misconceptions about the history of the discovery and progression of covid-19 vaccines, a picture that has been instrumental in overcoming the worst pandemic in a hundred years. Yes, thanks to Operation Warp Speed, USAguaranteed that it would buy millions of doses of the Covid-19 vaccine if the FDA and CDC deemed it effective. Why wouldn’t the government do that? We were in the middle of a pandemic. People were dying. Businesses have been closed. The government’s role was expected to be to take such measures to save lives and revive the economy.
Did those vaccines have any value? According to data compiled by the Commonwealth Fund, a U. S. base is based on the U. S. In the U. S. government seeking to promote a high-quality fitness system, the effect of those vaccines has been extraordinary. From December 12, 2020 to March 31, 2022, thanks to those vaccines. , there were 2,265,222 fewer deaths, 17,003,960 fewer hospitalizations, and 66,159,093 fewer infections, which has prevented $899. 4 billion in physical care costs!
Incidentally, when someone went to a pharmacy like CVS or Walgreen’s for their Covid-19 injections, the government paid the pharmacy $43 for each injection administered. Pfizer, which did not earn government cash in its R
So what is fueling Becerra’s concern? For one thing, the US government is no longer supplying the public with loose covid-19 vaccines. Congress has not renewed the budget to continue to do so. Thus, the charge for the vaccines will be transferred to the insurance companies and now they will demand their percentage of the advertising pie. There were no such middlemen when the government was the sole visitor to vaccines. As a result, Pfizer and Moderna have announced that the prices of those vaccines will increase significantly, probably up to $120. How to justify such a value? Is this the blatant increase in value that Becerra feared? In fact, the $120 price tag is misleading. This would be the list value of the vaccine, the value that would then be used to participate in negotiations with insurance companies. This is what is happening in our health care system. Insurance companies will determine which vaccine to offer their consumers based on the maximum price they negotiate with vaccine manufacturers. So the net value, the value that vaccine innovators will receive, will be well below $120, perhaps around $85.
Still, $85 is much more than the upfront costs of $32 to $39. Is this justified? In fact, there are reasons why higher costs will be needed. On the one hand, investments have been made in studies to find a modified vaccine to protect against new variants. The next series of vaccines will differ particularly from the original. , resulting in new production processes, etc. massive inoculation doses; there will be higher distribution costs; and vaccines expire before use. All this will translate into higher costs for the manufacturer.
The cost of the Covid-19 vaccine should be taken into account in the context of other vaccines. The average cost of the high-dose flu vaccine (for other people over age 65) is $75 for other uninsured people. Keep in mind that while Covid-19 is over 95% effective, the efficacy of flu vaccines hovers around 50% each year, another vital point when considering the price of covid-19 vaccines. Meningitis vaccines cost between $150 and $200, shingles vaccines: $325 (two doses) and measles/mumps/rubella: $90. Obviously, a net worth of $85 for the covid-19 vaccine is quite reasonable.
However, politicians will howl when the new higher costs of the Covid-19 vaccine are announced. No one will know how vaccine brands saved lives and the economy through their efforts. Instead, the costs of the Covid-19 vaccine will be wrongly attacked as an example of biopharmaceutical greed. It will be a disgrace.
John L. LaMattina is the former president of Pfizer Global R