Pfizer will increase COVID-19 vaccine cost $110 to $130 when U.S. Gov stops buying them

Pfizer, who developed the first COVID-19 vaccine approved in the United States, said they expect the vaccine to cost between $110 to $130 per dose once the U.S. government stops buying the shots.

Pfizer said that it does expect many citiziens will continue to receive the vaccine for free.

Pfizer executives said the charge could kick in as early as next year, however this is dependent on when the government starts to wind down its program or buying and distributing vaccines.

Pfizer believes that that people with private health insurance or coverage through public programs such as Medicare or Medicaid will still get the vaccine for free. The Affordable Care Act requires insurers to cover several recommended vaccines without the customer having to incur out-of-pocket expenses.

A company spokesman said that Pfizer also has an income-based assistance program that will assist some U.S. citizens with no health insurance get the shot.

Pfizer executive Angela Lukin stated on Thursday that the price is in place to cover costs for Pfizer’s switch to single-doses from commercial distribution. Lukin added that the unit price remained well below the thresholds “for what would be considered a highly effective vaccine.”

Pfizer’s two-dose shot was rolled out near the end of 2020. Since then, over 375 million doses of the original vaccine, which Pfizer developed with the German drugmaker BioNTech, have been distributed in the U.S., as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This number doesn’t take into account the additional 12 million doses of an updated booster that were approved earlier this year.