00:00The federal COVID vaccination program is scheduled to transition to the private market
00:05as early as the fall. With no exact date set, Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID response
00:11coordinator, confirmed the news in an interview with the UCSF Department of Medicine on Thursday.
00:18According to CNBC, for the past two years, the U.S. has purchased the vaccines directly from
00:24Pfizer and Moderna for an average price of approximately $21 per dose, with the intent
00:30for pharmacies, doctors, and hospitals to provide the shots to the public for free, regardless of
00:36insurance. Now, Pfizer and Moderna would sell the shots directly to healthcare providers at a higher
00:42price. Cynthia Cox, an expert on the Affordable Care Act at the Kaiser Family Foundation, says,
00:48If you're uninsured, then you might be faced with the full cost. That is when the substantial
00:53stockpile of 120 million free vaccines ordered by the Biden administration runs out. On the other
01:00hand, once the vaccine program goes commercial, Americans with health insurance should still get
01:05their shots for free.
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