Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Covid Vaccine Makers Decline To Refund Covax $1.4B For Canceled Orders
The New York Times: Covid Vaccine Makers Kept Prepayments For Canceled Shots For Poor Nations
As global demand for Covid-19 vaccines dries up, the program responsible for vaccinating the world’s poor has been urgently negotiating to try to get out of its deals with pharmaceutical companies for shots it no longer needs. Drug companies have so far declined to refund $1.4 billion in advance payments for now-canceled doses, according to confidential documents obtained by The New York Times. (Nolen and Robbins, 2/1)
In updates on Pfizer —
Politico: Pfizer Reports Record Revenue, Expects Covid-19 Vaccines To Be Commercialized Later This Year
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer expects billions less in revenue this year as the U.S. government stops buying its Covid-19 vaccine and treatments and fewer people seek shots to combat the disease. The anticipated revenue decline underscores how federal subsidies have bolstered the drug industry during the pandemic. More than half of the company’s record $100.3 billion in 2022 revenue came from Covid-19 vaccines and Paxlovid, its oral antiviral. But in 2023, the company expects to bring in only $13.5 billion in revenue for the vaccine, Comirnaty, and $8 billion for Paxlovid. (Foley, 1/31)
CNN: The Covid Sales Boom Is Over For Pfizer
Pfizer generated nearly $57 billion in combined sales last year from its Comirnaty Covid-19 vaccine and Paxlovid antiviral pill. That works out to almost 60% of the company’s total revenue for 2022. But the boom appears to be over. ... A big part of the problem for Pfizer, as well as vaccine rival Moderna (MRNA), is that public health care agencies already had an ample supply of vaccines and pills to help prevent the spread of Covid and treat those who contract the virus. (La Monica, 1/31)
In other covid vaccine news —
Fox News: West Point Continues To Impose COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate, Despite Rule's Lift By Pentagon: Report
The U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, plans to continue to impose restrictions on travel for those cadets who are not vaccinated, despite measures taken at the Pentagon to remove COVID-19 vaccine mandates, according to reports. Online news organization Just The News reported that military attorney R. Davis Younts said West Point was reimposing a travel ban on unvaccinated cadets, even though the U.S. military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate was lifted. (Wehner, 1/30)
MedPage Today: Video Of Pfizer Employee Explaining COVID Vaccine Research Debunked
Project Veritas, a conservative activist group known for spreading misinformation, recently published a concealed-camera videoopens in a new tab or window allegedly showing a Pfizer employee describing the company's COVID-19 vaccine research efforts. ... Share on Facebook. Opens in a new tab or window Share on Twitter. Opens in a new tab or window Share on LinkedIn. Opens in a new tab or window email article A photo of the Pfizer World Headquarters in New York City. Project Veritas, a conservative activist group known for spreading misinformation, recently published a concealed-camera videoopens in a new tab or window allegedly showing a Pfizer employee describing the company's COVID-19 vaccine research efforts. As described by Project Veritas, the video features "Jordon Trishton Walker, Pfizer Director of Research and Development - Strategic Operations and mRNA Scientific Planning," sharing details about Pfizer's plans for conducting gain-of-function SARS-CoV-2 research. In the heavily edited clip, the so-called employee can be heard telling the Project Veritas reporter out of the camera frame "don't tell anyone this, by the way" before outlining seemingly theoretical conversations being had at Pfizer. (DePeau-Wilson, 1/31)
