The $100M/vaccine price is stupid, but I would easily pay $1000 to get the vaccine early and raise money for factories. With just 20M doses it would mean $10B income for Moderna.
Let the ultra-rich and influential skip the line for Covid-19 vaccines?
21–30 of 92 posts
Re: Let the ultra-rich and influential skip the line for Covid-19 vaccines?
#22The article assumes the vaccine can only be sourced from the US Gov. This brings up some interesting questions about access direct from the manufacturers.
When will the manufacturers backorder obligations be filled so they sell the vaccine on the open market? Do they have any contractual requirements to sell through government determined channels?
Re: Let the ultra-rich and influential skip the line for Covid-19 vaccines?
#23Or we could just raise taxes on anyone who has enough money to pay $100 million for a dose and then give all the vaccines to the people who need them most.
Re: Let the ultra-rich and influential skip the line for Covid-19 vaccines?
#24The ultra-rich don't need a vaccine. They just get $150k stem cell injections into their neck.
Do you have some more information about this treatment? I haven’t heard about it, but that might be because I’m not in the market for $150k medical treatments :)
Re: Let the ultra-rich and influential skip the line for Covid-19 vaccines?
#25“Liberals can view it as a wealth tax”. Not really, a tax is something that the government levies on everyone subject to some tax code. What is suggested is not a tax because it’s entirely optional - you’re not paying a tax you’re buying a vaccine.
Re: Let the ultra-rich and influential skip the line for Covid-19 vaccines?
#26The $100M/vaccine price is stupid, but I would easily pay $1000 to get the vaccine early and raise money for factories. With just 20M doses it would mean $10B income for Moderna.
As far as I know, there isn’t any real need for more factory investment. Have you heard otherwise?
Re: Let the ultra-rich and influential skip the line for Covid-19 vaccines?
#27The article assumes the vaccine can only be sourced from the US Gov. This brings up some interesting questions about access direct from the manufacturers. When will the manufacturers backorder obligations be filled so they sell the vaccine on the open market? Do they have any contractual requirements to sell through government determined channels?
I was wondering as well. One manufacturer wants to use one charge for his employees (to ensure production), but this is sidetracking the official process.
Re: Let the ultra-rich and influential skip the line for Covid-19 vaccines?
#28The $100M/vaccine price is stupid, but I would easily pay $1000 to get the vaccine early and raise money for factories. With just 20M doses it would mean $10B income for Moderna.
If the federal government acted like a scalper, I wouldn't feel bad about it.
Open auction, with price going as high as it wants, right down to zero.
Special categories (e.g. multiple co-morbidities, medical workers) cut to the front, and pay market rate.
Let businesses foot much of the bill. If I need to pay $1000 to reopen my factory, it might be a good investment. Free market will allocate resources.
Re: Let the ultra-rich and influential skip the line for Covid-19 vaccines?
#29Re: Let the ultra-rich and influential skip the line for Covid-19 vaccines?
#30I don't think it's a crazy idea, but the numbers here seem a bit hopeful. I don't think you're gonna get 100 people to pay $100 million for an earlier spot in the line. Or 1000 people to pay $10 million. Particularly because people with that amount of money to throw around (if you can pay $10 million for one vaccine, you are very very wealthy) know that they can most likely pull strings to get ahead in the line anyway. So at most, they are probably paying to jump ahead by just two or three months from where they will be anyway. (If you are young, healthy and rich, you probably don't care enough to pay these prices. If you are old and rich, you probably are gonna be not-too-far-back in the line anyway).