United States government has set a benchmark price for the COVID-19 vaccine in a $2 billion deal signed with New York-based Pfizer and German BioNTech to purchase 100 million doses of an effective vaccine.
Although the US and other governments around the world have signed agreements with pharmaceutical companies to support the Coronavirus vaccine development programs, some of which included guaranteed delivery of millions of vaccine shots, this is the first instance since the work started on COVID-19 vaccine development that a deal has outlined a specific price for an effective vaccine.
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Under the agreement, each pharmaceutical company will be responsible to produce and deliver 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, subject to approval after clinical trials, to the US government. The Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine will cost about $40.
According to details, the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine will be a 2-dose course of treatment which will have a price of $20 per dose.
Peter Pitts, President and co-founder of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, has said:
The average price for a flu vaccine is around $40 as well. It looks good with that comparison. It is well within the ballpark of reasonableness.
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The development offers a perspective about the likely price of an effective COVID-19 vaccine as it will put pressure on other manufacturers to set prices similar to the one agreed in the tripartite agreement.
While an effective vaccine is needed to end the Coronavirus pandemic that has crippled economies across the world, governments must also ensure a worldwide fair distribution of the vaccine along with preventing pharmaceutical companies to make colossal profits during a global health crisis.
