Anger as Pfizer reveals Covid shots will cost up to $130 when US government pulls free programme

Pfizer insists most Americans will still be able to access free vaccines, but public health advocates accuse it of “shameless” profiteering

Pfizer’s plan to sell its Covid vaccine for up to $130 a dose once the US government stops buying the shots has been labelled “obscene”.

The pharma giant announced on Thursday that it would charge between $110 and $130 per shot once the government phases out its free distribution programme, which could happen as early as next year.

Pfizer said in a statement to the Associated Press that it expects Americans with private health insurance or Medicare would still get the vaccines for free.

However, advocates for free global vaccine distribution have accused the drugmaker of price gouging just as positive case rates begin to surge ahead of an expected winter spike in cases.

“While health workers and the vulnerable continue to go unvaccinated in developing countries, Pfizer is shamelessly fleecing the public for ever-greater sums of money,” Julia Kosgei, policy adviser to the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said in a statement to The Independent. “This latest obscene price hike is truly a mask-off moment for one of the great profiteers of this pandemic.”

The US government paid $19.50 a dose under its first contract with Pfizer, which was renegotiated to $30.50 under the more most recent one.

Pfizer executive Angela Lukin told the AP that the $110 price tag reflected the increased cost of switching to single dose vials and for commercial distribution.

The company would also provide an assistance programme for lower income US residents without insurance.

Pfizer expects its Covid vaccines to cost between $110 and $130 when federal funding runs out (Associated Press)

Pfizer shares had leapt by more than four per cent on the news as of midday Friday.

It comes after Pfizer posted revenue of $27.7bn in second quarter earnings in July, a rise of 47 per cent compared to the last year.

Ms Kosgei, policy adviser to the People’s Vaccine Alliance, said experts had estimated the cost per dose to be around $1.18 and told The Indpendent: “Charging $130 per dose would represent a markup of more than ten thousand per cent. This is daylight robbery. Governments must not stand by while companies like Pfizer hold the world to ransom in a global pandemic.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 375 million doses of the original Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been distributed in the US. A further 12 million doses of an updated booster that specifically targets the Omicron variant have also been purchased by the US.

In September, the Biden administration said it expected federal funding for Covid vaccines to run out as soon as January.

Pfizer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.