Putting People Over Profits

Author: Ryan Hassan, M.D., Boost Oregon's Medical Director and pediatrician working at Oregon Pediatrics in Happy Valley.

On May 11, the United States government plans to end the national and public health emergency that began at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SAP-H.R.-382-H.J.-Res.-7.pdf). Our government initially declared the emergency because it recognized the imminent risk of Americans losing their livelihoods, their health, and their lives. 

During this emergency, the government used tens of billions of taxpayer dollars to fund the development of effective vaccines and medications to prevent and treat COVID-19. It then spent billions more to make those vaccines and treatments free for all Americans who needed them (https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20210512.191448). 

These medical breakthroughs prevented millions of hospitalizations and deaths around the world. Unfortunately, corporate profiteering led to massive disparities between people and countries who can afford these medicines and those who cannot. With the national COVID-19 emergency ending, these disparities, as well as corporate profits, are set to become even greater.

COVID-19 vaccines, like most vaccines, are relatively inexpensive. The US government initially paid $16 per dose of the COVID-19 vaccine (https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/forefront.20210512.191448). This is more than five times the cost of producing the vaccine  (https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/vaccine-monopolies-make-cost-vaccinating-world-against-covid-least-5-times-more), but that cost is well worth it: in the first five months the vaccines were available in the US, they prevented 150,000 deaths and may have saved over one trillion dollars in economic and healthcare costs (Vaccines prevented up to 140,000 COVID-19 deaths in U.S. | National Institutes of Health (NIH)).

Unfortunately, these prices are still too high for much of the developing world. Because COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers will not sell their vaccines at cost or share their proprietary knowledge, only one in four people in low-income countries have received a COVID-19 vaccine. This is a stark contrast to the 80% vaccination rate of people in high-income countries, like the United States (Ourworldindata.org). Prioritizing profits over people has kept life-saving COVID-19 vaccines out of reach for much of the world.

As with all vaccine-preventable diseases, though, pharmaceutical industries profit much more from treating COVID-19 than from preventing it. Tens of thousands of Americans continue to get sick every day, and over 6 million of them have received Pfizer's antiviral drug, Paxlovid, to help them recover (https://www.webmd.com/covid/news/20221207/when-feds-pull-subsidy-cost-of-paxlovid-will-hit-americans-hard). The US paid Pfizer over $10 billion to provide the drug to all Americans who need it, which has helped minimize COVID-19 deaths (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paxlovid-covid-19-drug-free-next-year-cost/).

When the US public health emergency ends this May, the government plans to stop paying for COVID-19 testing, vaccines, and treatments. Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccines are expected to increase from $30 per shot to $120 per shot. Pfizer claims that health insurers will cover the cost, but, when insurance companies pay more for healthcare, insurance premiums rise. Meanwhile, the price of Paxlovid is expected to increase significantly beyond the $530 per course that the government paid for them, and it may not be covered at all by some insurance plans, including Medicare, which serves 50 million senior citizens (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paxlovid-covid-19-drug-free-next-year-cost/).

The risks from COVID-19 are now preventable and treatable, but that doesn’t mean much for people who can’t access prevention and treatment. The United States' for-profit healthcare system has made life-saving medical care unaffordable for too many people. We need to ensure that everyone has access to safe and effective medications, knowledgeable healthcare providers, and a democratic government that holds industries accountable. It’s time to stop prioritizing profits over people.