More about the news
Previously, the CDC had the Bridge Access Program, an initiative implemented through public-private cooperation where individuals without health insurance or those who have insurance that does not cover all the COVID-19 vaccine’s costs could get a COVID-19 vaccine for free.
However, the program will close this month because of the lack of federal funding.
People enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid, or other private health insurance similarly would still get the revised vaccine for free. There are approximately 25 to 30 million adults in America who are still uninsured, and it means they will have to dig into their pockets to pay for a shot.
According to Dr. Nathaniel Hupert, an associate professor of population health sciences and of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, “The timing is really unfortunate because we don’t yet have the 2024-25 versions of the COVID shots generally available, so the Bridge program will end before those are available to uninsured individuals,” ABC News reported.
The CDC has USD 62 million from unused vaccine contract funding for state and local programs to purchase covid vaccines for uninsured and underinsured adults to search for ways to expand the availability, but more information was not released.
What more have the experts stated?
According to Dr. Raynard Washington, public health director of Mecklenburg County in North Carolina – the process of getting a sufficient amount of what he considers to be updated COVID vaccines will not be easy.
There were around a hundred thousand residents of Mecklenburg County between the ages of 19 and 64 who were without health insurance.
Choosing local resources means there will not be enough vaccines to buy for all those adults, Washington explained.
Washington added that there is still money available from COVID funds to address the costs incurred in the administration process. Still, the county can hardly bear all of them, he noted that point while arguing about the issue, ABC News reported.
Last year, till the end of May, both Pfizer and Moderna said that the cost of units of its vaccines would be between USD 110 and USD 130. This year, the prices could be just as much, if not more.
Sages argue that the present prices are so prohibitive that they pose a huge financial strain to many Americans, let alone for the uninsured adults.