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The European Union appears to have paid less than the United States for some of the coronavirus vaccines it has secured, according to confidential pricing data that was released in an apparent blunder.
A Belgian government minister published, then quickly deleted, a Twitter message on Thursday evening containing the prices the European Union negotiated to pay pharmaceutical companies for coronavirus vaccines.
The prices had been kept secret by the European Commission, the bloc’s executive, which negotiates on behalf of its 27 member states and orders doses for the 410 million people living in this vast region, where cases have increased.
European countries tend to pay significantly lower prices for most drugs than patients in the United States. But coronavirus vaccines are unusual because the U.S. government has negotiated prices and arranged to purchase doses for each American directly, unlike most drugs, where the U.S. government has a limited role, and drug companies. individual insurance negotiate with drug manufacturers.
The higher price in the United States may reflect a less aggressive negotiating stance on the part of American officials, who were keen to encourage several drug companies to invest in vaccine development – and a willingness to put the United States in first line for doses when available. These financial incentives seem to have worked: no vaccine has ever been developed so quickly.
The new information has emerged days before the European Union approves its first vaccine for use in the region, which will trigger an ambitious and logistically difficult vaccination campaign.
The price list, briefly released by Belgium’s Budget Secretary of State Eva De Bleeker, showed that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which is due for approval on Monday in the bloc and is being administered in the United States and Great -Brittany, will cost 12 euros, or $ 14.70, per dose, bringing the cost per person to € 24, as each person is supposed to receive two doses.
That’s significantly lower than the company’s official price, which was advertised at $ 19.50 per dose, which is also what the US government paid. Deployment of the Pfizer vaccine began this week in the United States.
Moderna vaccine, which is next in line to be approved by the EU on January 6 and is expected to receive US Food and Drug Administration clearance for emergency use on Friday, costs US $ 18 per dose, according to the table. The company had said it was looking to charge $ 25 to $ 37 per dose.
Eric Mamer, a spokesperson for the European Commission, declined to comment on the price list, saying the negotiated deals were “covered by confidentiality”, but did not dispute the prices.
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Answers to your questions about vaccines
With the distribution of a coronavirus vaccine starting in the United States, here are the answers to some questions you might be wondering:
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- If I live in the United States, when can I get the vaccine? While the exact order of vaccines may vary by state, most will likely prioritize medical workers and residents of long-term care facilities. If you want to understand how this decision is made, this article will help you.
- When can I resume a normal life after being vaccinated? Life will only return to normal when society as a whole is sufficiently protected against the coronavirus. Once countries authorize a vaccine, they will only be able to immunize a few percent of their citizens in the first two months at most. The unvaccinated majority will always remain vulnerable to infection. A growing number of coronavirus vaccines show strong protection against the disease. But it is also possible for people to spread the virus without even knowing they are infected, as they show only mild symptoms, if any. Scientists do not yet know if the vaccines also block the transmission of the coronavirus. So for now, even vaccinated people will have to wear masks, avoid crowds inside, etc. Once enough people are vaccinated, it will become very difficult for the coronavirus to find vulnerable people to infect. Depending on how quickly we, as a society, reach this goal, life may start to move closer to something normal by fall 2021.
- If I have been vaccinated, do I still have to wear a mask? Yes, but not forever. Here’s why. Vaccines against the coronavirus are injected deep into the muscles and stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies. This appears to be enough protection to prevent the vaccinated person from getting sick. But what’s not clear is whether it’s possible for the virus to bloom in the nose – and either sneeze or breathe out to infect other people – even though antibodies elsewhere in the body have mobilized to prevent the vaccinated person to get sick. Clinical vaccine trials have been designed to find out whether vaccinated people are protected from the disease – not whether they might still spread the coronavirus. Based on studies of the flu vaccine and even of patients infected with Covid-19, researchers have reason to hope that those vaccinated will not spread the virus, but more research is needed. In the meantime, everyone, even those who have been vaccinated, will have to think of themselves as possible silent spreaders and continue to wear a mask. Learn more here.
- Will it hurt? What are the side effects? The Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine is given by injection into the arm, like other typical vaccines. The injection in your arm won’t be different from any other vaccine, but the rate of short-lived side effects seems higher than a flu shot. Tens of thousands of people have already received the vaccines and none of them have reported serious health problems. Side effects, which can resemble symptoms of Covid-19, last for about a day and seem more likely after the second dose. Initial reports of vaccine trials suggest that some people may need to take time off work because they feel unwell after receiving the second dose. In the Pfizer study, about half developed fatigue. Other side effects occurred in at least 25-33% of patients, sometimes more, including headache, chills, and muscle pain. Although these experiences are not pleasant, they are a good sign that your own immune system is preparing a potent response to the vaccine that will provide long-lasting immunity.
- Will mRNA vaccines change my genes? No. Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use a genetic molecule to stimulate the immune system. This molecule, known as mRNA, is ultimately destroyed by the body. The mRNA is packaged in an oily bubble that can fuse with a cell, allowing the molecule to slip inside. The cell uses mRNA to make proteins from the coronavirus, which can stimulate the immune system. At any given time, each of our cells can contain hundreds of thousands of mRNA molecules, which they produce to make their own proteins. Once these proteins are made, our cells then shred the mRNA with special enzymes. The mRNA molecules made by our cells can only survive for a few minutes. The mRNA in vaccines is designed to resist the enzymes in the cell for a bit longer, so that the cells can make additional viral proteins and elicit a stronger immune response. But mRNA can only last a few days at most before being destroyed.
A spokesperson for Ms De Bleeker said she tweeted details to settle a political debate in Belgium, where opposition politicians accuse the government of not having set aside enough money to buy the vaccines .
“We were trying to be transparent, but it seems we were a little too transparent,” said Bavo De Mol, the spokesperson.
Several health economists have noted that the price of the vaccine itself – even though the United States pays more than Europe – is insignificant compared to the economic cost of a continuing pandemic. Again this week, Congress is preparing to authorize payments of $ 600 to every American adult to cushion the blow of the recession caused by the pandemic, far more than the $ 39 per person it will take to immunize adults at the Pfizer price. higher.
“The cost of overpayment is so low compared to the potential counterfactual,” said Benedic Ippolito, resident researcher at the American Enterprise Institute, which studies drug prices. “It’s like a shrug situation where, OK, our price is a little higher. This is a one-time pandemic, and we will sort out the drug price situation later. “
But now that it is public, the price differential may influence negotiations on future vaccine batches.
Secrecy around European prices was part of the negotiation, EU officials said, although they acknowledged that demands for transparency around vaccine deals were legitimate.
“We wouldn’t have had these contracts if we hadn’t included the confidentiality clause,” Mamer said. “This is a relevant debate, we are not questioning it. It was part of the process of concluding these contracts, and we are not in a position to change it now, ”he added.
The European Union has ordered more vaccines from most suppliers than the United States, in part because the block’s total population is larger. In the case of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, for example, the EU has secured 200 million vaccines with the possibility of enjoying the same deal for more.
The other prices on the list published by the Belgian Minister included 1.78 euro per dose for the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine; $ 8.50 per dose for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine; 7.56 euros for the Sanofi / GlaxoSmithKline; and 10 euros for the Curevac. Some of these vaccines are lagging behind in development and their advance purchase agreements may never activate or take much longer; the contract that the EU has signed with them will only become active if their vaccines work.
By allowing the EU to strike a comprehensive deal on behalf of its 27 member countries, governments have pooled their negotiating capital and influence as a bloc, according to bloc leaders.
Provided the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is approved on Monday, the EU plans to deliver the first batch of vaccine to each of its member capitals on December 26 and start rolling out inoculation throughout the bloc immediately after.
Matina Stevis-Gridneff reported from Brussels; Margot Sanger-Katz reported from Washington.
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