Biopharmaceutical company Pfizer has announced a major expansion of its humanitarian assistance program, giving broader access to the Prevnar 13 vaccine it produces in humanitarian emergency situations. The company will offer a new multidose vial (MDV) at the lowest price worldwide.
The price of the vaccine is now $3.10 per dose. Aside from lowering the market price of the vaccine, the company will also donate money from the first year of implementation of the program to support humanitarian groups and organizations.
This program follows a previous initiative by the British drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, which stated back in September that it would cut the price of its pneumococcal vaccine, called Synflorix, to $3.05 when it comes to humanitarian crises.
Pfizer Humanitarian Assistance Program
Humanitarian organizations fighting to reach a category of very vulnerable people should be supported in their efforts, said Pfizer. The Nov. 11 announcement stated that civil society organizations (CSOs) will have special pricings of the vaccine, thus continuing the company's trademark involvement in these types of actions.
Additionally, Pfizer will also donate a number of vaccines in order to help the emergency needs of these vulnerable populations, and starting 2017 refugees will also have the possibility to receive the latest Prevenar 13 vaccine, which will contain four doses within the same size that currently only incorporates one dosage.
This new type of vaccine, incorporating the effects of four shots into just one, is especially created in order to help the developing world populations. The storage and transportation of the vaccines will also benefit from reduced pricing offers, for the same purpose as the previously announced measures. The vaccines have, additionally, been prequalified by the World Health Organization.
Pneumococcal Vaccine Access and Administration
The vaccine was approved in the European Union in 2009, when infants and children were given the possibility to be administered the shots in order to prevent the pneumococcal disease. The shots are currently and extensively used in more than 150 countries worldwide, including the United States, Japan, Australia or Canada, against pneumococcal viral problems.
Among the safety precautions that the users should know, people with former severe allergic reactions should not be administered with the medicine, as well as children with unsteady immune systems. The clinical and safety information about the administration of the vaccine also state that some of the most common adverse reactions were pain at the injection site, headaches or fatigue, increased or decreased sleep and fever.
