What would a corporate COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer do in the face of a pandemic? You guessed it: Use its power to put maximizing profits ahead of the public health. And, that’s just what Pfizer did when the federal government gave it the power to determine how the vaccine is distributed, reports StatNews.
Pfizer figured out that if it packaged its vaccine for distribution in 80 pound boxes, it would add to its enormous profits. Each box would hold 1,170 vaccine doses. Never mind the consequences for Americans. Pfizer did not care that its packaging severely limited where it could send the vaccines.
For its part, the federal government naively believed that all it needed from Pfizer was agreement to distribute the vaccines without a plan as to where the vaccines were being sent. It did not insist on dictating the number of vaccines in each container. And, Pfizer refused to consider sending shipments of 100 vaccine doses at a time.
This explains why big establishments in urban areas received the Pfizer vaccine first and rural communities and small medical establishments had to wait. Only the big facilities could keep large quantities of vaccines in cold storage and use hundreds of vaccines at a time. Local pharmacies and primary care doctors could not handle huge supplies of the vaccine.
Of course, Pfizer denies that its distribution plan had anything to do with maximizing profits. But, large boxes of vaccines simplified Pfizer’s job and kept its costs down. Their government contract included the cost of delivery so a team at Pfizer figured out how to get its vaccines out at the lowest possible cost.
The Pfizer box has other limitations. It can only be opened two times each day for no more than three minutes at a time. It needs new dry ice to continue to keep the vaccine cold.
The federal government had to dedicate a lot of resources to determining who could receive the vaccine, instead of coordinating the administration of the vaccine. Needless to say, government research from 10-years ago shows that vaccines should be able to be distributed in small quantities to reach more people in more places.
Of course, Pfizer could have used multiple-sized boxes in its distribution of the vaccine, but that would have raised its costs and reduced its profits. More dry ice, more labor and more delivery locations. In sharp contrast, Moderna’s boxes contained 10 or 11 doses, so small retail pharmacies and private medical practices could take delivery of them.
The big culprit here is the federal government. The Trump administration is guilty of not dictating the terms of delivery. After all, it was buying enormous quantities of the vaccine and should have had significant leverage over its distribution, even if Pfizer wanted that control.
The Biden administration has been able to use its leverage to reduce the Pfizer box size to 450 vials.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- Online pharmacies can save you money
- Novartis, Sanofi and Pfizer engaged in illegal kickbacks and bribery
- Most of Congress continues to accept campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry
- Members of Congress have a stake in drug and device companies they regulate
- GAO finds US drug prices more than four times those in France
Leave a Reply