Pfizer will charge US$110 to US$130 for a dose of its COVID-19 vaccine once the US government stops buying the shots, but the drug maker says it expects many people will continue receiving it for free.
Pfizer executives said the commercial pricing for adult doses could start early next year, depending on when the government phases out its programme of buying and distributing the shots.
The drugmaker said it expects that people with private health insurance or coverage through public programs like Medicare or Medicaid will pay nothing. The Affordable Care Act requires insurers to cover many recommended vaccines without charging any out-of-pocket expenses.
A spokesman said the company also has an income-based assistance programme that helps eligible US residents with no insurance get the shots.
The price would make the two-dose vaccine more expensive for cash-paying customers than annual flu shots. Those can range in price from around US$50 to US$95, depending on the type, according to CVS Health, which runs one of the nation’s biggest drugstore chains.
A Pfizer executive said Thursday that the price reflects increased costs for switching to single-dose vials and commercial distribution. The executive, Angela Lukin, said the price was well below the thresholds “for what would be considered a highly effective vaccine.”
The drug maker said last year that it was charging the US $19.50 per dose and that it had three tiers of pricing globally, depending on each country’s financial situation.
In June, the company said the US government would buy an additional 105 million doses in a deal that amounted to roughly US$30 per shot. The government has the option to purchase more doses after that.
Pfizer’s two-shot vaccine debuted in late 2020 and has been the most common preventive shot used to fight COVID-19 in the US