$130 per shot COVID vaccines? Manufacturers warned against price gouging

The Biden administration is calling on COVID-19 vaccine makers to ensure the updated shots for the fall are priced affordably.

“Updated COVID-19 vaccines entering the market this fall should be priced at a reasonable rate, reflective of the value that you have obtained through U.S. government investment,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a Thursday letter to the CEOs of Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax.

“Price gouging behavior takes advantage of the trust the American people have placed in you through the COVID-19 response,” Becerra said.

The federal government is no longer paying for COVID-19 vaccines with the end of the public health emergency related to the pandemic. That means the vaccines are now only available on the commercial market.

Becerra said his department is “working to ensure a smooth transition” and expects that vaccines will remain available in the types of locations where the public currently receives them, like pharmacies, clinics, health departments and providers’ offices.

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration told vaccine manufacturers that their coronavirus vaccines for this fall should target XBB.1.5, which accounts for about 40 percent of cases in the U.S., though this number is declining.

Vaccine companies have been working on XBB-specific vaccines so they will be ready by the end of the summer.

Becerra told the companies to plan for regulatory action on updated vaccinations by late September.

Pfizer and Moderna have previously indicated their shots could cost as much as $130 a dose.