Moderna COVID-19 vaccine sales projection plummets, Pfizer’s jumps
Moderna is expecting $5 billion minimum in COVID vaccine sales this year, down about $13 billion from 2022, the company said. Last year, the pharma giant met its forecast at $18.4 billion as countries around the world imposed harsh vaccine mandates. The lower projection is expected given that many governments have dropped their vaccine mandates, though Moderna said it expects more contracts this year.
Pfizer, on the other hand, is expecting a $2 billion bump in COVID vaccine sales to $34 billion, raising questions about whether demand for the injections is falling or if Pfizer has a winning strategy in mind.
While Pfizer announced a 400% price hike for its COVID vaccine its government contracts are likely to fizzle out particularly as the United States’s COVID-19 “public emergency” ends on January 11th.
Pfizer’s projection comes as Israel’s government prepares to again grant itself unbridled authority to implement sweeping restrictions, such as vaccine mandates, and criminalize non-compliance in the name of COVID-19. The Health Ministry is allowing public feedback until January 11, 2023.
Israel was the first to sign an agreement with Pfizer for its COVID-19 vaccines, which it received in exchange for providing the pharma corporation with experimental data. Both Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proudly referred to Israel as “the world’s lab” for the COVID vaccine.
Israel has used Pfizer vaccines exclusively for its harsh vaccine mandates.
Pfizer has been a profitable venture for Israel, particularly since the vaccine maker paid generous grants to the country’s medical institutions in 2020, just before the vaccine rollout. Those grants, however, are shrouded in mystery.
Out of 47 payments received by hospitals and medical institutions in 2020, thirty were paid by Pfizer alone, totaling NIS 8,129,000 ($2,335,000). Over half that amount — NIS 4,129,000 ($1,186,000) — was categorized obscurely as “Research unreported to the Contracts Committee”.
Israel’s move closer to COVID-19 restrictions comes as the country prepares to downgrade COVID-19 to a virus akin to the flu or common cold. The change is expected to occur on January 31st when the pandemic’s control center will close and there will no longer be isolation requirements for COVID-19 patients, according to Israeli media.
It is unclear, therefore, why Israel’s Knesset is looking to reinstate its COVID powers. One thing has become clear, though — while the relationship between Pfizer and Israel has cost Israel’s citizens dearly, it has been profitable for its government and the pharmaceutical company.
