The price of COVID-19 vaccines may increase once they are made commercially available or given “full authorization,” according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
This coincides with the approval of the American drug regulator on the commercial use of Pfizer vaccines in their country.
According to the FDA, they expect Pfizer-BioNTech to apply for a certificate of product registration in the Philippines for its COVID-19 vaccines, and other vaccine brands will soon follow in the last quarter of 2021.
According to FDA Director-General Eric Domingo, the price of COVID-19 vaccines is likely to go up once it is given full approval.
“Very likely ‘yan dahil ngayon siyempre ang pinapangako ng mga company na nagbebenta sila sa mga gobyerno nang walang tubo bilang tulong sa worldwide drive natin against COVID-19, pero siyempre kapag ito ay may marketing authorization na magkakaroon na ng pagbabago,” said Domingo.
The full authorization has been given to Pfizer vaccines in the United States to encourage residents to get vaccinated amid the presence of vaccination skepticism, even at the threat of the Delta variant in the area.
Price of COVID-19 vaccine may increase due to full approval
Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion mentioned that a price hike for such a brand is possible due to this step.
Buying one’s own vaccine is one of the visible ways for some private companies if their employees need a booster or extra COVID-19 vaccine doses once the government allows it.
“Hopefully, those vaccines, when available in the market towards the end of the year, e di ‘yung gustong magpa-booster, they can take care of themselves. Ibenta na lang ‘yan sa labas. Para habang inaasikaso ng gobyerno ‘yung pagtapos (ng COVID vaccination) sa iba,” said Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. head of PhilExport.
The World Health Organization says the data is still inconclusive on whether COVID-19 booster doses are beneficial. But Philippine experts are still studying it because the vaccines can still protect against the deadly COVID-19 even though the protection they provide is said to have weakened over a few months.
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