U.S. Government to No Longer Provide Free COVID-19 Vaccines

On August 30, Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced in a blog post that the Biden Administration expects the cancellation of the government’s purchasing of COVID-19 vaccine doses next year. Without the government’s purchasing, COVID-19 vaccines will no longer be free. However, officials say they have long expected this transition.

Related Article: Moderna Wins the First Regulatory Approval for an Omicron Bivalent Vaccine

Biden Administration Lacks Funds from Congress

Starting before the first COVID-19 vaccine approval, the U.S. government signed a contract to purchase Pfizer’s first COVID-19 vaccine in July 2020. Upon gaining approval in December 2020, the U.S. received 600million doses of the vaccine in exchange for $1.95 billion. 

Since then, the government has struck deals of similar figures with pharmaceutical companies possessing approved vaccines. The most recent deal is between the U.S. and Moderna, in which the government paid $1.74 billion for 66 million doses of their Omicron BA.⅘ booster. Due to these deals, COVID-19 vaccines are accessible to the public free of charge. 

However, according to Dawn O’Connell, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response in the HHS, Congress last contributed funds to the federal government’s vaccine initiative over 530 days ago. As a result, the government’s timeline for transitioning their initiative accelerated. The Biden Administration expects its role in vaccine rollout to end by January 2023.

What Will The Transition Look Like?

Though the government’s role is coming to a close, they acquired over 170 million COVID-19 boosters, updated with Omicron BA.⅘ protection. As with prior vaccines, these updated boosters will be freely available to the public. 

In addition, parts of the transition have already taken place. The HHS successfully transitioned Bebtelovimab, an antibody treatment for COVID-19, to a commercial market. They also expect to transition the therapeutics Evusheld, Lagevrio, and Paxlovid to commercial markets within the first two quarters of 2023 as federal supplies run out. 

As the government moves to transition, funding remains a crucial concern. As O’Connell wrote, “In terms of commercialization planning, additional funding would allow for an orderly wind down of the federal government’s procurement and distribution programs to ensure that all have access to these needed interventions while the commercial market ramps up. And importantly, it would also allow us to more effectively ensure equitable distribution and coverage for the underinsured and uninsured.” 

Author

Max Heirich