Pfizer boss claims Covid shot will remain ‘free for all Americans’ – despite marking up shot 10,000%

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla is under fire after claiming his firm’s Covid vaccine will remain ‘free for all Americans’ – despite plans for a massive price hike.

The pharma giant announced last month it would raise the price of its shot to $130, once the government uses up the doses it has bought and the vaccine goes on the open market next year.

That marks a 10,000 per cent mark up from the estimated $1.18 it costs the New York City-based company to produce each dose of the vaccine.

The US government has been paying around $30 per dose up to this point and then distributing the shots for free to the public. 

Insurers will cover the increased cost, meaning Americans won’t pay up front, but analysts warn that this will lead to upward pressure on premiums paid by millions of Americans and their employers.

Mr Bourla told a health conference last week: ‘Americans will see no difference, [it] will be free for them to get, regardless of the insurance they have.’

But David Mitchell, co-founder of the advocacy group Patients for Affordable Drugs, told DailyMail.com that the comments were ‘dishonest’.

‘He [Bourla] knows it’s not true. The vaccine is not going to be free. He is going to charge $120 list price for the vaccine and it will be paid. The questions is who will pay it.’ 

Mr Bourla’s comments came during Wednesday during the STAT Summit, held by STAT News.

It comes after Pfizer’s chief financial officer has described the Covid pandemic as a ‘multi-billion dollar franchise’ — and expects profit to continue.

David Denton told investors in an earnings call last week his company’s vaccine and antiviral would still be ‘relevant for many years to come’.

The CFO said he expects the Covid virus to be ‘somewhat like a flu… but more deadly’ — meaning therapeutics will still have a massive role in controlling the virus.

So far Pfizer has reaped about $80 billion in yearly revenue from sales of Covid vaccines and the antiviral drug Paxlovid.

Mr Bourla himself has been a major winner during the pandemic, receiving an estimated $50million in compensation between 2021 and 2022 as a result of the pandemic windfall. 

A report by Public Citizen estimates that it costs Pfizer around $1.18 to manufacture each individual dose of the vaccine – making next year’s $130 price-point a 10,000 per cent mark up.

Mr Mitchell told DailyMail.com that the costs would be passed to tax payers, patients, consumers and employees through various means.

As the shots are added to the liabilities of insurance companies, the costs will be passed on to people who pay premiums.

Because many Americans receive insurance through their employer, companies will be forced to use larger portions of their employee compensation pool to pay for health insurance costs.

The cost of shots will be paid for by all taxpayers as well, to fund the vaccine for people on government-run plans like Medicare and Medicaid.

Robbie Silverman, a senior advocacy manager from Oxfam America, noted to DailyMail.com that BioNTech, who partnered with Pfizer on the rollout of its shot, also received millions in taxpayer funds from Germany.