Pfizer's fall COVID-19 vaccination season is off to a slow start, with U.S. sales of Comirnaty shots down 25% after federal regulators narrowed recommendations on who should get them.
The approval of the updated drugs also came several weeks later than usual, and Pfizer said Tuesday that that also had a negative impact on sales.
Many Americans get vaccinated in the fall to protect against any surge in illnesses this coming winter. Experts say interest in COVID-19 vaccinations is waning, a trend that could accelerate this fall due to anti-vaccine sentiment and uncertainty about the need for shots.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month stopped recommending COVID-19 vaccinations are available to everyone, leaving the choice up to patients instead. The government agency said it accepts recommendations made advisors selected by US Secretary of Health Robert Kennedy Jr.
Until this year, U.S. health officials, following the advice of infectious disease experts, recommended annual COVID-19 vaccinations for all Americans 6 months of age and older. The idea was to update protection as the coronavirus evolves.
But that view began to change earlier this year when Kennedy who doubted the safety of COVID-19 vaccinesthey said no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women.
Dr. Amesh Adaya said vaccination rates in recent years had been “suboptimal” even for people considered at high risk of contracting a severe case of COVID-19.
“That number is only going to decrease this season,” a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security said recently.
Change of leadership caused some confusion in September as updated shots began arriving at pharmacies, the primary place Americans turn to get vaccinated. Some places required prescriptions or began asking customers if they had a medical condition that made them susceptible to a severe case of COVID-19.
The change also raised questions about whether coverage would continue. America's Health Insurance Plans, a major industry group, has since clarified that its members will be covered for vaccinations.
Earlier this month, CVS Health announced it would not require prescriptions at its stores and clinics.
Independent pharmacy owner Teresa Tolle says this fall has likely been one of the most confusing seasons for her customers. Tolle operates an independent pharmacy on Bay Street in Sebastian, Florida.
She said her COVID-19 vaccine business is busy because she has elderly patients. Many people still want to get vaccinated. But this year she's also had more clients tell her they don't need them.
“There are so many messages out there that they don’t know who to believe,” she said. “I've had people tell me they're afraid of it, even though they've had it many times.”
In the recently completed third quarter, Pfizer's U.S. sales fell to $870 million from $1.16 billion in the same period last year. This comes after vaccine sales rose in the first two quarters of the year.
Wall Street analysts also expect sales of Moderna's Spikevax shot to fall about 50% in the third quarter, according to data firm FactSet.
Moderna will report third-quarter results on Thursday.
