Pfizer plans to sell COVID-19 vaccines for up to $130 per dose because of its 'value'

Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said Friday that the company would sell its COVID-19 vaccines for up to $130 per dose, citing the "value" of the vaccine.

The vaccine, which is currently free, would be sold for between $110 to $130 per dose when the U.S. government stops paying for the jabs in the beginning of 2023, according to NBC News and CNN.

The cost comes even after Pfizer sold $36.7 billion of its COVID-19 vaccines in 2021, contributing to 45% of the company's revenue that year.

In a report earlier this year, the international nonprofit Oxfam found that the pandemic created more than 40 new pharmaceutical billionaires.

Oxfam said that drug companies such as Moderna and Pfizer have profited from the monopolies their companies currently hold in vaccines, treatments, tests and personal protective equipment largely coming from public funding.

"Pharmaceutical giants are making over $1,000 a second in profit from vaccines alone and they are charging governments up to 24 times more than it would cost to produce vaccines on a generic basis," Oxfam said, citing research the nonprofit previously conducted.

Pfizer, which has been accused of using "dirty tactics" to boost profits including funding misinformation about the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine, has sold the most vaccines in the world but has delivered the least to low-income countries as a proportion of total doses sold.