The federal government has taken steps to deliver a future vaccine for Covid-19 at no cost to individuals and families during the pandemic. This is the way vaccines have been made available to the public in previous health emergencies.
Buying in bulk
During previous public health crises, like the H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009, the federal government has worked with vaccine developers to purchase a large number of vaccine doses. In making these agreements with the different vaccine developers, the government secured enough supply to protect the country’s diverse populations and those most vulnerable to contracting the disease.
These agreements are put in place during the research and development process to allow the federal government to plan ahead, anticipate public needs, and prepare for the quick and efficient distribution of doses. To help address the 2009 emergency the government purchased the vaccines and provided them to the most at-risk communities at no cost to those who received them. This helped end the health crises quickly and safely.
No out-of-pocket costs
Vaccine developers deliver doses to the federal government once they are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). At this point, the government oversees how vaccines are allocated and distributed to individuals and local communities.
Learn more about how the government decides who gets pandemic vaccines – and when – here.
The public has every reason to believe the federal government will deliver Covid-19 vaccines at zero cost to individuals. In fact, government officials have already negotiated several agreements with vaccine developers to purchase hundreds of millions of doses. As with past pandemics, these will then be provided with no out-of-pocket costs to the American people.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services also reaffirmed this strategy in October by releasing new guidance to boost patient access to Covid-19 vaccines and treatments. According to the agency’s guidance:
- All approved vaccines for Covid-19 will be covered under the Medicare program with no cost sharing for seniors
- Private insurance plans will be required to cover the cost of Covid-19 vaccines at no cost to beneficiaries
- Patients will not be charged for the cost of administering Covid-19 vaccines
The big picture
The federal government has been working with vaccine developers for months to ensure vaccines for Covid-19 are accessible and available at no cost to patients throughout the duration of the pandemic.
