Covid Vaccines May Become a Viable Business. That’s a Problem
Demand for booster shots and delta’s infectiousness have made manufacturing shots a good opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry. Where does that leave the rest of the world?
Profit booster.
Photographer: Jill Connelly/BloombergFor most of us, the growing evidence that the efficacy of Covid vaccines is declining over time should be a cause of worry. For the drug companies that have spent billions of dollars developing them, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Recent studies on vaccine effectiveness have led to a run of orders for boosters in recent weeks. The U.S. will start distributing extra shots beginning Sept. 20th, and expects to roll out about 100 million doses in the coming months. Shortening the window before a third dose from eight to as little as five months was being discussed, President Joe Biden said last week. The U.K. last week ordered 35 million more doses of the Pfizer Inc. vaccine to supplement earlier shots. In Israel, anyone over 30 is already eligible for a booster.