Denver – Amid global vaccine shortage in most countries around the world and a shockingly low rate of vaccinations among medical staff in the global south, vaccine producer Moderna’s is reporting massive profits. The choice by a small group of countries to block the global sharing of vaccine patents has ensured Moderna can now use its large earnings to buy back its own stocks, in order to further inflate its stock price in the future.
According to reports, the buyback is in anticipation of future massive sales of the vaccine, as countries continue to try and contain the COVID-19 virus, as well as its highly transmissible mutations.
The WHO has issued a desperate plea to the world’s vaccine-rich countries to implement a moratorium on third “booster” shots in order to allow more vaccines to reach the majority of countries in the world where vaccine shortages are dire, even among medical staff on the front lines.
Hopes for a brief glimpse of human solidarity were quickly dashed however, as the US rejected the WHO’s pleas and Moderna published a report urging for the booster shots to take place.
Moderna President and Head of Research and Development Stephen Hoge predicted people would need the upcoming, highly profitable, third vaccine booster shot to remain immune to COVID and the increasing threat of the Delta variant. Hoge neglected to comment on how this would impact millions of doctors and nurses around the world who have not received a single shot.
During the second quarter of 2021, Moderna’s sales jumped by nearly $4.2 billion dollars due to the widespread usage of its vaccine which was developed using $2.5 billion in public money from the US government. This compares to a revenue of $67 million during the same period last year. Moderna, along with Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, have become the main producers of COVID vaccines in the Western world due to the specific political decision not to share vaccines and enforce the profits of these multinationals instead.
Current analysis of the Moderna vaccine shows it has about a 93% efficacy rate against COVID. However, with new mutations constantly emerging, it’s unclear how long this effectiveness will last. Many global health advocates continue to criticize large pharmaceutical companies like Moderna, who have largely ignored developing countries in its vaccine distributions in favor of wealthy nations.
Experts point out that by the time wealthy nations administer their third COVID shots, many countries in Asia, Africa, and South America will still be trying to obtain their first and second vaccine doses for citizens.
In the midst of a global economic slowdown Moderna even increased the prices of its vaccines since the pandemic started. While initially priced at $22.60 per dose, the pharmaceutical company has raised the price to $25.50 per dose, once again increasing the vaccination gap between richer and poorer nations.
Moderna has already secured $12 billion in vaccine purchase agreements for 2022, with an additional $8 billion in additional purchases. Many wealthy countries are also discussing purchase options for 2023 with the company. Meanwhile, the WHO continues to plead with the countries hosting these companies to share the vaccine patents in order to prevent further preventable deaths worldwide.
WHO Secretary-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has stated that “hoarding vaccines isn’t just immoral, it’s medically self-defeating.” He warned that the current political and economic distribution of vaccines will never stop the pandemic, and even worsen it significantly.
“Vaccine nationalism is not just morally indefensible, It is epidemiologically self-defeating and clinically counterproductive,” the WHO chief wrote.
