Vaccine Money Rush: What’s Health Got To Do With It

Pfizer now expects 2.3 billion dosage deliveries of the Covid-19 vaccine in 2021 for the shots jointly produced with Germany’s BioNTech, up 200 million from its previous forecast in July. That will bring total 2021 revenues for the vaccine to $36 billion, from $33.5 billion.

Pfizer a US-based drugmaker said higher forecast 2021 results reflects the boost from the Covid-19 vaccine, as well as the performance of Pfizer’s broader business.
Recently, US health authorities approved Pfizer’s vaccine for children aged five to 11, paving the way for 28 million young Americans to soon get the jab.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b2 is not recommended for children under 12 years; according to Information for UK recipients on Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (Regulation 174) Updated 28 October 2021 in GOV.UK website.

Shares rallied on the announcement, which comes on the heels of similar earnings releases by Pfizer in May and July that also showed how the vaccine has transformed the company’s financial performance over the last year.
In the most recent quarter, the company’s revenues were $24.1 billion, more than double the level in the year-ago period, with coming from revenues tied to the Covid-19 vaccine.

News report showed earlier in July, when Pfizer said it planned to seek U.S. authorization for a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration pushed back, saying Americans do not need a booster shot at this time.
In the statement, the agencies said it is not up to companies alone to decide when a booster shot is needed.
“FDA, CDC, and NIH are engaged in a science-based, rigorous process to consider whether or when a booster might be necessary,” the statement reads. “This process takes into account laboratory data, clinical trial data, and cohort data – which can include data from specific pharmaceutical companies, but does not rely on those data exclusively.”

By September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to allow for use of a single booster dose, to be administered.
“Today’s action demonstrates that science and the currently available data continue to guide the FDA’s decision-making for COVID-19 vaccines during this pandemic. After considering the totality of the available scientific evidence and the deliberations of our advisory committee of independent, external experts, the FDA amended the EUA for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to allow for a booster dose in certain populations such as health care workers, teachers and day care staff, grocery workers and those in homeless shelters or prisons, among others,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D.

The FDA considered the data that the vaccine manufacturer submitted, information presented at the VRBPAC meeting, and the committee’s discussion, and has determined that based on the totality of the available scientific evidence, a booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine may be effective in preventing COVID-19 and that the known and potential benefits of a booster dose outweigh the known and potential risks in the populations that the FDA is authorizing for use.

However some experts and scientists have expressed concerns regarding the decision made by the FDA in the meeting that passed the vaccine shot for children aged 5-11, how that the discussions was largely based on benefits rather than risks.
In the meantime, the Manhattan-based pharmaceutical giant has maintained tight levels of secrecy about negotiations with governments over contracts that can determine the fate of populations. The “contracts consistently place Pfizer’s interests before public health imperatives,” said Zain Rizvi, the researcher who wrote the report.
Public Citizen found common themes across contracts, including not only secrecy but also language to block donations of Pfizer doses. Disputes are settled in secret arbitration courts, with Pfizer able to change the terms of key decisions, including delivery dates, and demand public assets as collateral.
Sharon Castillo, a spokeswoman for Pfizer, said that confidentiality clauses were “standard in commercial contracts” and “intended to help build trust between the parties, as well as protect the confidential commercial information exchanged during negotiations and included in final contracts.”

Pfizer a company worth over 210 billion USD has formalized 73 deals for its coronavirus vaccine. According to Transparency International, a London-based advocacy group, only five contracts have been formally published by governments, and these with “significant redactions.”
Public Citizen analyzed an unredacted draft agreement between the company and Albania, as well as unredacted final documents from Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Peru and the European Commission. Redacted documents published by Chile, the United States and Britain provide further context, though they are missing key details.
The contract reached with Brazil prohibits the government from making “any public announcement concerning the existence, subject matter or terms of [the] Agreement” or commenting on its relationship with Pfizer without the prior written consent of the company.

In contracts with Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Peru, governments were required to sign a document that says each “expressly and irrevocably waives any right of immunity which either it or its assets may have or acquire in the future.” The first four also were required to waive immunity against “precautionary” seizure of their assets.
Public Citizen found contracts that required governments “‘to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Pfizer’ from and against any and all suits, claims, actions, demands, damages, costs and expenses related to vaccine intellectual property.”(Washington post).

With 3.5 billion doses purchased; Sales could double in 2022, according to projections. How powerful pharmaceutical companies have become over time since the emergence of covid-19, with profiting skyrocketing in a short period of time has become a question that begs for answers.