Boots will offer Covid vaccines in England for almost £100 per jab
Boots will offer Covid vaccinations for almost £100 a time, making it the latest provider to sell the jabs to people who don’t qualify for a booster through the NHS.
The company has confirmed it will offer the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to healthy customers in England aged 12 and over from next week, at a price of £98.95 per injection.
Boots is the latest company to capitalize on manufacturers’ decision to sell the vaccinations privately, with Pharmadoctor last month announced it would offer Covid jabs to eligible customers through partner pharmacies in the UK.
Although Pharmadoctor notes that each pharmacy sets its own prices, it suggests the Pfizer/BioNTech jab will cost customers £75-£85, while the latest Novavax jab will cost around £45-£55.
More than 1,000 patients have already been vaccinated privately using the Pfizer/BioNTech jab, with Novavax jabs expected to start from April 22, according to Pharmadoctor CEO Graham Thoms.
Boots’ announcement comes as vaccination services prepare for the spring booster campaignin which people aged 75 and over, residents of care homes for the elderly and people aged six months and over with a weakened immune system will again be offered a free Covid jab from the NHS.
However, because eligibility for this and previous campaigns is limited, most healthy people have not had a booster jab since the end of 2021, and experts warn their protection will have diminished over time.
A spokesperson for Boots said: “We are launching a private Covid-19 vaccination service for people who are not eligible for an NHS vaccination but still want the option to protect themselves against the virus.
“Our private service builds on our existing provision of Covid-19 vaccinations for the NHS and we are pleased to now be able to offer Covid-19 vaccinations both on behalf of the NHS and privately, as we have done for years with flu vaccinations.”
Boots said it was working hard to ensure the jabs were as affordable as possible, stating that the price tag of almost £100 allowed the company to cover the cost of the vaccine and other operational costs involved in providing the service are involved.
However, the price is several times higher than the cost of a private flu vaccination, which cost £19.95 at Boots last winter.
While experts have previously welcomed the move to make Covid jabs available to people who are not eligible for a booster through the NHS, they have warned that high prices could limit their accessibility.
Dr. Simon Williams, a behavioral scientist at Swansea University, said the cost of the Boots service would likely be unaffordable for many people.
“The price of the Covid vaccines at £99 is regressive in the sense that it means only those wealthy enough to afford it will be able to do so. Moreover, even many of those who can afford it are unlikely to do so at that price,” he said.
Williams noted that expensive vaccines were also a concern as Covid tended to have worse outcomes among lower-income populations.
“Apart from government subsidies, one possible way to make (Covid jabs) more affordable is for organizations and employers (to) think about offering boosters, such as flu vaccines, to help employees protect their health – it would also ultimately be cost-effective could prove to be beneficial if it means fewer staff losses due to illness, including as a result of the long Covid-19 crisis,” he said.
Professor Adam Finn from the University of Bristol said the high prices were no surprise as companies tended to charge what they thought people would pay. He added that costs were generally kept low by competition, which may be limited at the moment.