Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine sales tumble after government guidance on the shots narrows
By TOM MURPHY Associated Press Wellbeing Writer The fall COVID- vaccine season is starting slowly for Pfizer with U S sales of its Comirnaty shots sinking after federal regulators narrowed recommendations on who should get them Related Articles Trump urges Senate to drop filibuster end shutdown or face political whiplash At present in History November Obama wins presidency in historic vote NYC voters are choosing their next mayor as Mamdani faces Cuomo and Sliwa in a generational battle California voters take up Democrats push for new congressional maps that could shape House control Virginia governor s race will test Trump and Democrats nationally and make history Approval of updated shots also came several weeks later than usual and Pfizer announced Tuesday that hurt sales as well Countless Americans get vaccinations in the fall to get protection from any disorder surges in the coming winter Experts say interest in COVID- shots has been declining and that trend could pick up this fall due to anti-vaccine sentiment and confusion about whether the shots are necessary The Centers for Illness Control and Prevention last month stopped recommending COVID- shots for anyone instead leaving the choice up to patients The administration agency mentioned it was adopting recommendations made by advisers picked by U S Fitness Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr Before this year U S vitality authorities following the advice of infectious condition experts recommended annual COVID- boosters for all Americans ages months and older The idea was to update protection as the coronavirus evolves But that sentiment started to shift earlier this year when Kennedy who has questioned the safety of COVID- vaccines commented they were no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women Dr Amesh Adaja disclosed vaccine rates have been suboptimal in modern years even for people considered a high peril for catching a bad circumstance of COVID- That s only going to fall off more this season the senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Healthcare Protection announced in the past few days The shifting guidance caused certain confusion in September once updated shots began arriving at drugstores the main place Americans go to get vaccinated Specific locations required prescriptions or started asking customers if they had a condition that made them susceptible to a bad matter of COVID- The change also created questions about whether insurance coverage would continue A major industry group America s Robustness Insurance Plans has since clarified that its members will cover the shots CVS Physical condition disclosed earlier this month that it will not require prescriptions at its stores and clinics Independent pharmacy owner Theresa Tolle says this fall has apparently been one of the more confusing seasons for her customers Tolle runs the independent Bay Street Pharmacy in Sebastian Florida She noted her COVID- vaccine business has been busy because she has an older case population A great number of still want the shots But she s also had more customers tell her this year that they don t want them There s just so plenty of messages out there they don t know who to believe she mentioned I ve had people tell me they are afraid of it when they ve had it numerous times Pfizer saw U S Comirnaty sales drop to million in the in the past few days completed third quarter from billion in the same time frame last year That came after vaccine sales rose the first two quarters of the year FILE The Pfizer logo is displayed at the company s headquarters Friday Feb in New York AP Photo Mark Lennihan File Wall Street analysts also expect sales of Spikevax shots from Moderna to tumble about in the third quarter according to the facts firm FactSet Moderna will account its third-quarter results on Thursday
