The pricing of COVID-19 vaccines is once again in the headlines after the UK ordered 32 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty for £22 a shot, up from £18 previously.
The deal comes after the EU ordered up to 1.8 million doses (in addition to the 600 million it has already ordered this year) at €19.50 per jab, up from €15.50. The US has also pre-ordered 1.2 million doses, with 700 million destined for Americans and the remaining 500 million doses being donated to poorer countries.
The UK order comes before the country has even confirmed its COVID-19 booster campaign for this winter.
The rising price for Comirnaty (tozinameran) was bound to attract headlines, not least as Pfizer and BioNTech have released extremely positive revenues for the half-year to June. In recent weeks, Pfizer has announced sales of $11.3bn in the first six months of 2021, while BioNTech’s profits jumped to nearly €4bn. Pfizer also expects revenue for Comirnaty to top out at $33.5bn by the end of 2021.
The comparison in price between these vaccines and those being sold on a no-profit basis – AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevria and Janssen’s single-dose vaccine – is stark. The UK has been paying £2 a dose for Vaxzevria, which alongside Comirnaty has formed the basis of the country’s vaccination programme.
However, the EU has not ordered any more doses of the AZ vaccine after it was linked to rare blood clots – thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) – earlier this year. Whether new research published in The Lancet showing that rates of TTS are comparable to the background rate in an unvaccinated population will change the situation is yet to be seen.
The EU is also currently investigating reports that the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are linked to three new serious side effects: allergic skin reaction erythema multiforme and kidney disorders glomerulonephritis and nephrotic syndrome.
Charities and non-governmental organisations have criticised Pfizer/BioNTech’s pricing policy. The People’s Vaccine – a campaign involving more than 70 international organisations including Oxfam, UNAIDS and Save the Children – has said the cost of vaccinating the world against COVID-19 could be at least five times cheaper if pharmaceutical companies “weren’t profiteering from their monopolies” on COVID-19 vaccines.
The body suggests that Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are charging governments as much as $41bn above the estimated cost of production. It cites Colombia as an example, stating that the country has “potentially overpaid by as much as $375m” for its doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
It is not just the price of the vaccinations that has attracted criticism. Plans by wealthy nations to start booster campaigns while huge numbers of vulnerable people in poorer countries remain unvaccinated is a “moral failure and tragedy”, said Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group behind Vaxzevria.