Free Jabs No More: US to Stop COVID-19 Vaccine Purchase, Shift to Commercial Market

By the fall season, the U.S. will no longer be buying COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatments to facilitate free jabs and diagnostics as the country attempts to move past the crisis stage and return to normalcy.

Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator, told CNN Tuesday, August 16, that months of discussion and contemplation have been underway to determine when the U.S. has to get out of the crisis phase. He said that by 2023, COVID-19 vaccine availability will completely shift to the commercial market, but the transition process will begin "in the days and weeks ahead."

Essentially, COVID-19 products will be mostly available from a hospital, doctor, or pharmacy in a regular healthcare system situation. Jha said they will ensure an orderly and transparent transition involving regulatory and market issues so "everybody sees it coming."

Prices of COVID-19 products could increase in the private market

So far, only Moderna and Pfizer have been given regulatory approval for commercialization in the U.S. Novavax is working on getting approved by the end of 2022, while demand for Janssen from Johnson & Johnson has waned following reports of blood clot risks, per Yahoo! Finance.

Chief Commercial Officer Apra Garay said that the market has been engaging with key players and channels in anticipation of this shift. Insurers are also waiting for the latest guidance to adapt in their policies and operations. The commercialization could see the cost of COVID-19 products increasing once the private market is added to the distribution channels.

In the spring, Congress rejected allocating $10 billion to fund the COVID-19 efforts of the federal government, thus triggering a shift to commercialization. However, the U.S. still expects 105 million updated booster shots from Pfizer and 66 million from Moderna. These provisions will be enough for free jabs until the end of the year.

About 70 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated, but officials have said the number of cases has fallen below peak levels. Thus, for some experts, COVID-19 is now endemic, so the government can stop buying medicines for the public.

Americans urged to get flu shots

Meanwhile, with flu season just around the corner, Jha urged the public to get their COVID-19 boosters and flu shots as soon as they are available. He said Americans need to be proactive about prevention so the healthcare system will not be stretched and overwhelmed.

Flu vaccines are usually ready by September and October. According to NBC News, the country may experience a bad flu season similar to Australia, which has experienced its worst after five years, especially among kids between the ages of 5 to 9.

Dr. Alicia Fry, the head of Epidemiology and Prevention at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that the experts usually monitor what's happening in the Southern Hemisphere countries like Australia to gain insights into the upcoming flu season. She said that the CDC has been on the alert since the rising cases Down Under.