According to unredacted documents from the New Zealand government, COVID-19 Pfizer shots cost taxpayers there $37 per dose..Newsroom, a New Zealand news site, obtained official government documents under the country’s Official Information Act that included three unredacted documents revealing how much the country was on the hook to pay per Pfizer dose..Based on the information on these three documents dating back to March, April and May 2021, each Pfizer dose would cost the New Zealand government $36.50 per dose ($31 CDN)..The government had also agreed to pay $80.6 million for AstraZeneca vaccines ($10.60 per dose), $384.7 million for Novavax jabs ($35.89 per dose) and earmarked $85.5 million for Janssen’s one-shot vaccine ($17.10 per shot)..Canada’s federal government has “committed over $9 billion to procure vaccines and therapeutics and to provide international support,” according to its website..The site says the government will continue to secure COVID-19 vaccines for 2022 and 2023, with options to extend into 2024, including booster doses and new second-generation adaptations of the vaccines..According to figures released by the government, Canada secured 51 million Pfizer doses for its initial agreement. In agreements for future supplies from Pfizer, Canada could receive up to 65 million additional doses for 2022, up to 60 million in 2023 and up to 60 million in 2024..Although it is unknown what Canada paid per dose to Pfizer, if the government follows through with their procurement commitments with the vaccine supplier for the next three years, Canadians will have spent $7.3 billion alone to Pfizer alone if priced similar to what was revealed in New Zealand..These figures don’t include the costs associated with procurement agreements for 20 million doses of AstraZeneca, Moderna’s 44 million doses, up to 38 million from Johnson & Johnson, up to 76 million from newly-approved Canadian-made Medicago and up to 76 million Novavax doses. .The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) said in a Nov. 4, 2021 release, “Canada is expected to spend a new record of $308 billion on healthcare in 2021 — that’s over $580,000 every minute.”.CIHI said based on new data, the country’s health spending increased by more than 12% between 2019 and 2020, “a rate of increase we haven’t seen in more than 30 years.”.Hospitals take 25% of the spending while drugs account for 14% and physicians make up 13% of health spending in Canada..CIHI referred to a new spending category called the COVID-19 Response Fund — which includes COVID-19 treatments and vaccines — and said it will make up 7% or $23 billion of the total health spending in the country..“COVID-19 resulted in the single biggest increase in health spending we have ever seen in this country,” said CIHI President and CEO David O’Toole..“An aging population and the continued pandemic will no doubt put more strain on our health systems and take up a larger proportion of government budgets..“Challenges lie ahead, no doubt — but so do opportunities as improved technologies, pharmaceuticals and models of care can lead to better health outcomes for Canadians.”.Melanie Risdon is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.mrisdon@westernstandardonline.com
According to unredacted documents from the New Zealand government, COVID-19 Pfizer shots cost taxpayers there $37 per dose..Newsroom, a New Zealand news site, obtained official government documents under the country’s Official Information Act that included three unredacted documents revealing how much the country was on the hook to pay per Pfizer dose..Based on the information on these three documents dating back to March, April and May 2021, each Pfizer dose would cost the New Zealand government $36.50 per dose ($31 CDN)..The government had also agreed to pay $80.6 million for AstraZeneca vaccines ($10.60 per dose), $384.7 million for Novavax jabs ($35.89 per dose) and earmarked $85.5 million for Janssen’s one-shot vaccine ($17.10 per shot)..Canada’s federal government has “committed over $9 billion to procure vaccines and therapeutics and to provide international support,” according to its website..The site says the government will continue to secure COVID-19 vaccines for 2022 and 2023, with options to extend into 2024, including booster doses and new second-generation adaptations of the vaccines..According to figures released by the government, Canada secured 51 million Pfizer doses for its initial agreement. In agreements for future supplies from Pfizer, Canada could receive up to 65 million additional doses for 2022, up to 60 million in 2023 and up to 60 million in 2024..Although it is unknown what Canada paid per dose to Pfizer, if the government follows through with their procurement commitments with the vaccine supplier for the next three years, Canadians will have spent $7.3 billion alone to Pfizer alone if priced similar to what was revealed in New Zealand..These figures don’t include the costs associated with procurement agreements for 20 million doses of AstraZeneca, Moderna’s 44 million doses, up to 38 million from Johnson & Johnson, up to 76 million from newly-approved Canadian-made Medicago and up to 76 million Novavax doses. .The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) said in a Nov. 4, 2021 release, “Canada is expected to spend a new record of $308 billion on healthcare in 2021 — that’s over $580,000 every minute.”.CIHI said based on new data, the country’s health spending increased by more than 12% between 2019 and 2020, “a rate of increase we haven’t seen in more than 30 years.”.Hospitals take 25% of the spending while drugs account for 14% and physicians make up 13% of health spending in Canada..CIHI referred to a new spending category called the COVID-19 Response Fund — which includes COVID-19 treatments and vaccines — and said it will make up 7% or $23 billion of the total health spending in the country..“COVID-19 resulted in the single biggest increase in health spending we have ever seen in this country,” said CIHI President and CEO David O’Toole..“An aging population and the continued pandemic will no doubt put more strain on our health systems and take up a larger proportion of government budgets..“Challenges lie ahead, no doubt — but so do opportunities as improved technologies, pharmaceuticals and models of care can lead to better health outcomes for Canadians.”.Melanie Risdon is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.mrisdon@westernstandardonline.com