What the new COVID-19 variants mean for consumers

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Nissa Shaffi

By Nissa Shaffi, NCL Associate Director of Health Policy

Viruses mutate, and SARS CoV-2—more commonly known as COVID-19—is no exception to that rule. When a virus evolves and mutates from its predominant virus, all that we know about it changes as well. It may be too soon to glean what impact the variants could have on vaccine rollout and efficacy, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have provided the detailed evidence they’ve uncovered thus far.

Three new strains of COVID-19 have been identified presently in four countries: the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7), Japan and Brazil (P.1), and South Africa (B.1.351). These new variants have not been observed to be more deadly, nor have they made people sicker, but one thing they all have in common is that they are more contagious than COVID-19. Cases for these strains have been found in 33 countries, including the United States.

While the variants all differ slightly in their function, they all possess a specific mutation called D614G — a shared trait that allows these new strains to spread more quickly than the predominant virus. The strain found in the United Kingdom, B.1.1.7, has an estimated 50 percent transmissibility rate, or how quickly it spreads from person to person. Considering ongoing efforts to release new vaccines for inclusion in a national rollout to curb this pandemic, a mutating virus presents unique challenges for an already overburdened healthcare system.

So, what does this mean for travel, testing, vaccines, and so on? The CDC has released a helpful questionnaire for individuals to consider before they pursue travel, requesting that people delay non-essential travel whenever possible. For those that plan to travel, the CDC has released guidance which states that individuals traveling via air into the United States must provide proof of a negative test result or documentation of recovery, before boarding their flight. Masks are required on all forms of public transportation, including planes. The CDC has issued travel notices regarding global travel and each country’s corresponding risk-level.

Scientists are continuously gathering data to determine how the variants will impact the efficacy of certain therapies, vaccines, and tests. Until further evidence suggests, states are reluctant to enforce stringent lockdown procedures. According to public health experts, the best way to rein in the transmission of these highly contagious variants and to ensure a successful vaccine rollout, is to practice physical distancing and double masking. Layering two masks, as double masking suggests, provide added layers of protection and a better-fitting face covering. Not all masks are equal. To learn more about how to maximize protection against the coronavirus with masks, click here.

As new information emerges, it is important to adjust our safety measures to successfully navigate an ever evolving situation. Consumers are understandably experiencing pandemic-fatigue. Rest assured that the fruits of our collective efforts are closer than they appear, if only we work together towards protecting ourselves and our communities from unnecessary transmission.

NCL: Biden pandemic plan is a welcome step towards an equitable COVID-19 response

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For immediate release: February 10, 2021

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—Today the National Consumers League applauds the Biden’s Administration’s focus on addressing health disparities in its national response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equality is a clear and welcome indication that the health and well-being of racial and ethnic minority communities is a priority for this administration,” said NCL Director of Health Policy Jeanette Contreras. “We are also encouraged by the fact that the leadership within the Biden Administration is the most ethnically diverse in our nation’s history. Our nation’s leaders can no longer turn a blind eye to the consequences of racial inequality on the health and economic status of people of color. As a result, the White House Domestic Policy Council is being tasked with applying a racial equity lens to all policies impacting the American people.”

The White House COVID-19 response plan has called for the establishment of a COVID-19 Racial and Ethnic Disparities Task Force to provide oversight on disparities in the public health and economic response. The Administration has also demonstrated its commitment to racial equity by establishing that the COVID-19 Task Force will become a permanent Infectious Disease Racial Disparities Task Force after the pandemic has ended.

In order to address health disparities and implement an equitable response to the pandemic, advocates argue it is critical that race and ethnicity data be collected. President Biden’s plan calls for the creation of a Nationwide Pandemic Dashboard that provides real-time data on key metrics, such as cases, testing, vaccinations, and hospital admissions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will host a public dashboard tracking transmission rates by zip code.

“Current reporting of transmission rates reveals the inconsistent collection of data across the country—data that is incredibly important to decision-making across all aspects of daily life,” said Contreras. For example, school boards across the country rely on local transmission data to base their decisions on when it’s safe to return to in-person instruction, and city officials rely on this data to decide when to allow indoor dining at restaurants.

Access to testing will remain a vital tool in curbing the pandemic. The Administration has pledged to double the number of drive-through testing sites to alleviate the long lines and shortages that characterized the pandemic in 2020. As remotely-functioning employees return to worksites, there will be an ongoing need for employee testing. President Biden’s plan calls for a Pandemic Testing Board that will ensure the production of testing supplies meets the increased demand. Advocates welcomed the Administration’s swift enactment of the Defense Production Act to produce more vaccination supplies, at-home tests, and personal protective equipment.

“The lack of leadership from the Trump Administration left state and local health officials essentially flying blindly without data to inform their decisions,” said Contreras. “We are facing the consequences today, with evidence that communities of color are being vaccinated at disproportionately lower rates than their white counterparts. The Biden Administration’s COVID-19 plan offers federal officials a comprehensive framework for coordinating an equitable response to the pandemic. The National Consumers League applauds this Administration in its foresight and intention to build trust in communities of color to ensure our most vulnerable populations are not ignored moving forward.”

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

No PPP for anti-vaxxers! Ten advocacy groups tell SBA to claw back $850,000 in PPP Funding to anti-vaxxers

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For immediate release: February 5, 2021

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—Ten patient and consumer advocacy organizations are demanding that the Small Business Administration claw back nearly a million dollars worth of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) monies granted to the leading American anti-vaccine groups.   

The advocacy organizations sent a joint letter to the U.S. Small Business Administration to express their collective concerns about the fact that, according to the Washington Post, five of the most virulent anti-vaccine organizations—each of which has spread misleading information about the coronavirus—were granted more than $850,000 in loans from the federal PPP. 

“Recipients of PPP loans include organizations that engage in conspiracy theories and lies about the safety and efficacy of vaccines generally and in this current environment, have spread misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine,” stated the letter. 

Operation Warp Speed—the federal government’s program to develop, produce, and distribute enough COVID-19 vaccine doses to inoculate 300 million Americans in record time—has cost the American taxpayer roughly $12 billion so far, a number expected to grow more than two-fold at $26 billion.  

“It is unfathomable and utterly counterproductive that taxpayer money was awarded to anti-vaccine groups during this national public health crisis,” the groups wrote. They called upon the Small Business Administration and the Biden Administration to investigate and rescind the loans made to the following anti-vaccination groups:    

Mercola.Com Health Resources ($335,000) 

Mercola.Com Health Resources received an astonishing $335,000 to maintain its operations during the pandemic. In December 2019, Mercola’s founder, Joseph Mercola, authored an article falsely stating that COVID-19 vaccines released via emergency authorization may cause massive side effects. In 2019, Mr. Mercola funded pervasive anti-vaccine efforts while the nation was grappling with widespread spikes of measles cases.  

Informed Consent Action Network ($166,000) 

The Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), founded by anti-vaccine activist Del Bigtree received approximately $166,000 in PPP funding. Bigtree has attracted more than 43,000 followers via ICAN, and regularly posts about his skepticism regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, actively downplaying the severity of the pandemic. In a December 2020 interview, Bigtree falsely stated that the COVID-19 vaccines would lead to “vaccine-enhanced diseases” and could cause infertility in women, arguing that the antibodies could potentially attack a woman’s placenta, rather than the spike protein as intended. “If it starts attacking placentas, no one will be able to get pregnant. These are legitimate theoretical issues.” 

National Vaccine Information Center (Less than $150,000) 

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., head of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), took to social media in December of 2020 to call into question the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines: “We clearly have a systematic problem when government health regulators have utterly abdicated their responsibility to safeguard public health and refer safety concerns about shoddily tested, zero-liability vaccines to pharmaceutical companies.” Kennedy’s claims regarding the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines have not been validated and are irresponsible. 

Children’s Health Defense (Less than $150,000) 

NVIC’s Kennedy also founded Children’s Health Defense. His group’s misinformation campaign has contributed to widespread vaccine hesitancy around the country—primarily via social media, stirring up unfounded concerns among the population. 

Tenpenny Integrative Medical Center ($72,000) 

Tenpenny Integrative Medical Center, spearheaded by physician, Sherri Tenpenny, was awarded $72,000 in PPP loans. Tenpenny is the author of a book titled “Saying No to Vaccines: A Resource Guide for All Ages.” Additionally,  Tenpenny’s online forums promote alternative health in lieu of immunization and argue against vaccinations across an individual’s lifespan. One of Tenpenny’s pages was banned from Facebook in December for spreading misinformation. 

In the joint letter to the SBA, the advocacy organizations insist that taxpayer dollars be well spent on efforts to vaccinate 60-70 percent of Americans.

“Operation Warp Speed and other related efforts are the right investment. Funding groups with a long history of using junk science to question the safety and efficacy of vaccines is a colossal waste of taxpayer money. Any funds provided to groups that oppose the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines must be returned to the Treasury. PPP funding should not contribute to efforts aimed at undermining our national efforts to fight the SARS CoV 2 virus,” said the groups.  

The advocacy organizations signing the letter are listed below:  

Alliance for Aging Research
American Immunization Registry Association
American Medical Student Association
American Muslim Health Professionals
Families Fighting Flu
Idaho Immunization Coalition
Kimberly Coffey Foundation
Meningitis B Action Project
National Consumers League
Vaccinate Your Family 

Read the letter here.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

Consumer groups back FDA on NDI draft guidance

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For immediate release: February 3, 2021

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—While the Biden Administration reviews late-hour regulations enacted by the Trump Administration, one important FDA guidance related to CBD deserves further consideration. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently withdrew its pending CBD guidance, which the agency had submitted last summer. These highly anticipated guidelines were meant to elaborate on FDA’s CBD enforcement policy as unregulated, untested CBD products continue to infiltrate the consumer market. The FDA has not yet shared a timeline for re-submitting the CBD guidance.

NCL launched Consumers for Safe CBD in 2019 to encourage the FDA to use its existing authority to curtail the proliferation of potentially dangerous, unapproved CBD products and to incentivize CBD research, clinical trials, and the creation of science-based CBD medicines.

NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg released the following statement in response to the FDA pulling its guidance:

The early weeks of 2021 have brought about many changes – with a new Administration, a new Congress, and continued progress in the fight against COVID-19,  there is hope for a safer, healthier future. NCL will continue to do its part to protect consumers and promote public health.

Unfortunately, CBD manufacturers continue to make unsubstantiated medical claims about their products, putting consumers at risk. We remain hopeful that the FDA and the Biden Administration will join us in our efforts to protect consumers from the potential dangers that exist in the current unregulated, wild west CBD marketplace.

NCL urges the FDA to re-circulate an updated proposal that encourages further research into CBD and the development of science-based CBD medicines and uses the FDA’s authority to regulate the CBD marketplace to protect consumers from CBD products that may put them at risk. Consumers deserve a safer, healthier future. We simply cannot abandon this work now.

To learn more about NCL’s Consumers for Safe CBD campaign, click here. To learn more about FDA’s recent efforts related to CBD, click here.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

National Consumers League calls on Administration to swiftly address PBMs’ role in diving up drug costs

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For immediate release: February 3, 2021

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—Washington, DC – The National Consumers League encourages the Biden Administration to continue work on meaningful reforms that help drive down consumer out-of-pocket costs of medicines. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Monday announced the decision to delay a final rule on pharmaceutical rebates that would address critical issues in our healthcare system. The rule aims to lower out-of-pocket costs for consumers by eliminating anti-kickback safe harbors for drug rebates and offering them as direct-to-consumer discounts.

As HHS has demonstrated, the rebates, discounts, and fees negotiated between pharmaceutical companies and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are rarely used to lower consumer out-of-pocket costs for medications. According to the new Senate Finance Committee report, some PBMs receive as much as 70 percent of insulin’s list price—demonstrating that PBMs can increase their profits when list prices are higher. By passing PBM rebates along to patients, savings at the pharmacy counter could be significant.

The following statement is attributable to NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg:

This delay is a major and preventable setback for consumers. We could be one step closer to significantly lowering out-of-pocket costs, but the government has delayed action. As we continue to face a global pandemic and economic challenges, it’s absolutely essential that we put the interests of consumers above all else—including PBMs.

“We must fix our broken drug pricing process, and HHS has identified one major flaw. The discounts these manufacturers offer to PBMs aren’t passed along to consumers as they should be. And PBMs continue to increase their fees, driving costs up even further. This rule would ensure that consumers—not large, corporate PBMs—save money on the medications they need.

Consumers deserve better, and NCL is committed to encouraging meaningful PBM reforms as soon as possible.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

Script Your Future launches tenth annual student competition for innovations in medication adherence

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February 1, 2021

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—Today marks the launch of the tenth annual Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge, a two-month-long intercollegiate competition among health profession student teams and faculty for creating solutions to raise awareness about medication adherence as a critical public health issue. The Challenge, hosted by the National Consumers League (NCL), is returning to university campuses across the country after nine years of successful student competition and innovation.

The Challenge is an integral part of Script Your Future, a campaign launched by NCL and its partners in 2011 to combat the problem of poor medication adherence in the United States, where nearly three out of four patients do not take their medication as directed.

“Today’s medications are better than ever at treating and curing people, but these treatments can only work if patients know the importance of taking their prescriptions as directed. It takes all members of the health team to make that happen,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director. “For 10 years, our Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge has galvanized student health professionals to explore creative, interprofessional approaches, in encouraging medication adherence. To usher Script Your Future into the next era of improving adherence, we have implemented two new components to the Team Challenge: technology innovation and vaccine adherence. We have been blown away by the ingenuity of our student teams, and we look forward to how they will contribute to their communities in this year’s Team Challenge.”

As the nation continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, Script Your Future teams are encouraged to build their campaigns centering around vaccine confidence to help address hesitancy and mitigate further spread of the coronavirus. Teams are encouraged to tailor their outreach towards chronic health issues including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, and respiratory illnesses. Challenge administrators also welcome the inclusion of other disease groups that would benefit from medication adherence-related interventions.

The Challenge is sponsored by the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation, and the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA).

Through April 2, inter-professional teams—including student pharmacists, nurses, doctors, and others—will implement creative outreach approaches in their communities to raise awareness and improve understanding about medication adherence. At the end of the Challenge, teams submit entries for review by national partner organizations, and winners are recognized for their efforts to improve medication adherence.

Last year, Team Challenge student health professionals were met with unique circumstances, hurdles, and obstacles as they navigated the historic COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in school closures, event cancelations, and a host of other challenges. To adhere to social distancing guidelines, dedicated teams pivoted their campaigns and made an impact in other ways. Ultimately, however, more than 80 teams submitted applications; the competition saw engagement from nearly 2,900 future healthcare professionals and volunteers, who hosted more than 250 events in 14 states. Collectively, the teams directly counseled close to 12,000 patients and introduced Script Your Future messaging to more than 430,000 consumers, nationwide.

Since the Team Challenge began in 2011, more than 21,000 future healthcare professionals have directly counseled nearly 87,000 patients and nearly 26 million consumers.

Last year’s national award winner was University of the Sciences: Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. Other schools winning category-specific honors included: Howard University College of Pharmacy; St. Louis College of Pharmacy; Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine School of Pharmacy (LECOM); University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy; and Western University College of Pharmacy. Additional participating schools received finalist and runner-up status across a variety of award categories.

To learn about previous winners, visit Script Your Future’s online home.

For more information on the Challenge, visit the Challenge Community website.

Tweet along with us during the Challenge using #SYFchallenge, and follow the campaign @IWillTakeMyMeds.

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About National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

About Script Your Future

Script Your Future is a campaign of the National Consumers League (NCL), a private, non-profit membership organization founded in 1899. NCL’s mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information about the Script Your Future campaign, visit ScriptYourFuture.org. For more information on NCL, please visit nclnet.org.

Mask up! New Executive Order mandating mask-wearing a welcome development

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Nissa Shaffi

By Nissa Shaffi, NCL Associate Director of Health Policy

On January 20, just hours following a historic inauguration, President Biden signed an Executive Order (EO) requiring mask-wearing on federal property and inside airports, planes, trains, ships, and intercity buses. Effective immediately, refusing to wear a mask in these locations will now be considered a federal offense. The President also called on governors and local health officials to encourage mask-wearing and social distancing. This comes as especially good news for airlines and their employees, as they now have a federal rule protecting them from passengers who refuse to wear masks inflight, in turn ensuring everyone’s safety.

The EO is the latest of many efforts to halt the spread of COVID-19 by influencing behavior around this necessary public health measure. The mandate to require mask-wearing is also poised to complement President Biden’s call to action for the American public to commit to 100 days of mask-wearing, during the early days of his presidency. Epidemiologists agree that concerted efforts towards pandemic-related precautions can significantly reduce COVID-19 cases in the country, providing much-needed relief for health care facilities currently operating beyond maximum capacity.

Over the course of the pandemic, mask-wearing has unfortunately morphed into a highly polarizing political issue. More than 405,000 Americans have perished in the last year, and irresponsible behavior, such as a stubbornness towards wearing masks, will only further exacerbate the crisis. There are many contributing factors behind this phenomenon, but a lot of it distills down to misinformation and propaganda.

The bottom line is that masks save lives and are powerful tools in preventing the spread of COVID-19. They should be worn to protect the wearer, as well as those they come into contact with. The EO mandating the use of masks is a great step in encouraging civic responsibility in containing the virus. As we forge ahead in our persistence against the coronavirus, consumers are encouraged to maintain adherence to federal health guidance pertaining to physical distancing, the usage of masks, and other public health measures.

Welcoming FDA’s call for better science, more research on CBD

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In 2019, in response to the growing retail market of untested, unapproved cannabidiol (CBD) products, NCL identified the need for greater consumer education and increased regulation at the federal level. NCL and its partners — Consumer Federation of America and the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America — created Consumers for Safe CBD to help raise awareness of the unregulated CBD marketplace, champion the rights of consumers, and call on government and industry to do more to protect consumers. This year, we will continue to work with key stakeholders to encourage safe CBD food and beverage products and promote a pathway for new therapeutic products through clinically-tested scientific research.

We’ve come a long way since our launch, and FDA is making progress. Newly former FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Principal Deputy Commissioner Amy Abernethy recently called for better science, more data, and increased testing to determine the risks and benefits associated with CBD. We are encouraged by the commitments outlined in the FDA statement and look forward to continued collaboration with the Biden Administration and the new leadership at the agency to make the CBD marketplace fair, safe, and healthy for consumers.

Read more about the FDA’s comments on the Consumers for Safe CBD here and sign up for CBD updates from our Consumers for Safe CBD campaign here.

Letter to Congress: NCL calls for confirmation of Becerra as Health Secretary

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January 22, 2021

Dear Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Wyden:

The National Consumers League (NCL) is America’s pioneering consumer advocacy organization, representing consumers and workers on marketplace and workplace issues since our founding in 1899. NCL has long advocated for equitable access to affordable quality health care for all. Today, NCL continues to work tirelessly to ensure the nation’s COVID-19 response meets the needs of the communities hardest hit by the pandemic.

As such, we call on the Senate to act expeditiously to confirm the appointment of Attorney General Xavier Becerra to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). AG Becerra’s appointment to Secretary of HHS is welcomed by advocates across the health care spectrum. As a nation in the midst of a public health crisis, there has never been a more critical time for bipartisanship. AG Becerra’s speedy confirmation would be a positive step forward to setting aside political ideology and working across the aisle to serve the American people.

AG Becerra is a proven champion for increasing access to health care in low-income minority communities, which are being disproportionately affected by the coronavirus. As Attorney General of California, AG Becerra’s stalwart leadership helped to preserve key consumer health care protections enacted by the Affordable Care Act. We anticipate that Attorney General Becerra will lead the HHS pandemic response with the same health equity and social justice principles he’s employed throughout his career.

NCL strongly supports the nomination of Attorney General Xavier Becerra as the next HHS Secretary and urges this Committee to report his nomination favorably to the Senate. NCL is encouraged this Committee has already begun the nomination process by sending its initial questionnaire to the nominee, and hopes this is an indicator that the diligent work to confirm AG Becerra’s appointment to HHS will commence without delay.

Sincerely,

Sally Greenberg
Executive Director
National Consumers League

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

COVID vaccine: Credit where credit is due

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By Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director

It’s almost a miracle. We now have safe and effective vaccines to fight SARS CoV2, commonly known as COVID-19, the devastating illness that has swept across the globe and—as of January 16, 2021—has killed more than 390,938 Americans and infected 23.5 million in less than a year.

Nearly 40 percent of those who’ve died were beloved older Americans in long-term care facilities, where the disease spread like wildfire, and who were often unable to say goodbye to loved ones.

Sadly, many who contracted the illness and survived spent lengthy hospital stays clinging to life on respirators. Of those who recovered, millions report COVID’s debilitating long-term effects. The United States has four percent of the world’s population but nearly a fifth of its recorded coronavirus deaths—the most of any country. Think of this: we have lost in less than one year eight times the number of Americans who died in the whole Vietnam war, and nine times the number who die in car accidents each year.

But now there’s light at the end of the tunnel because, in record time, America’s pharmaceutical companies have successfully developed safe and highly effective vaccines. Since the SARS CoV 2’s grip over America in late March of 2020, all medical experts could talk about—beyond washing hands, wearing masks, and social distancing—was getting a vaccine to prevent this illness. But vaccines typically take many years to develop so, we were told, don’t hold your breath. And yet here we are.

Consumer groups and members of Congress have been known to criticize the pharmaceutical industry. I get it; too many drugs are expensive and out of reach for millions of Americans, and that must be addressed. But it’s also important to acknowledge value of the public private partnership and the vast resources these companies have put into the R&D and bringing to market life-saving vaccines.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a prime example. The leading vaccines developed for COVID-19 are here, thanks to the dedication of industry leaders and scientists. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla shifted the company’s focus to singlemindedly developing a COVID vaccine, leveraging its substantial scientific and medical expertise, as well as 20 years of research on previous SARS-like illnesses. Pfizer committed hundreds of millions of dollars of its own resources to building a manufacturing network, and companies agreed to share their knowhow. These efforts were critical in achieving an effective and safe vaccine in record time. And in creating a distribution system that could maintain the very cold temperatures needed to preserve, especially the Pfizer vaccine, before it is administered.

Our government doesn’t have the resources to make that happen alone. Yes, something close to $10 billion in taxpayer dollars through Operation Warp Speed went to companies to assist with the rapid development of a vaccine, but Pfizer didn’t accept government funding for the initial development of the vaccine (though the company did receive $1.95 billion for manufacturing and nationwide distribution of 100 million doses).

And now we have Moderna, which also received more than $1 billion in funding, joining Pfizer in making available a two-dose vaccine that is safe and 95 percent effective, with Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Novavax not far behind with vaccines that may only require one dose. The public-private partnership model works. And consumers won’t have to pay to receive these shots. Experts tell us we should have five vaccines available by March or April, which is important because it gives healthcare providers options for different populations.

The next challenge is getting it into the arms of enough of us so that we can reach herd immunity, which means at least 60-70 percent of the population needs to be vaccinated.

And while this process has been disappointingly slow, this is largely because states haven’t been given adequate resources from the federal government to support a massive vaccination program. That said, more than a million Americans and counting have now been vaccinated and, under the incoming Biden-Harris Administration and a Democratic Congress, vast additional resources will be going to support for states and localities. The good news for vaccines is that there is high demand for the shots. My own Washington, DC community has offered thousands of appointments for shots online in the morning and they are taken immediately.

We have many to thank for this vaccine’s rapid development, but we must acknowledge the success of this uniquely American public-private partnership. We applaud the heroic work of Pfizer, Moderna, and the other companies to speed R&D and clinical trials of thousands of patients, to ensure a vaccine that is safe and effective. And kudos also to the trusted scientists at FDA and CDC for reviewing the data, ensuring the safety and efficacy of the vaccines, and approving them.

A special thanks is due to two esteemed FDA directors: former director Dr. Scott Gottlieb and our current FDA head Dr. Stephen Hahn, who gave us the straight scoop this past year and promised and delivered on FDA’s integrity and reliance on science throughout the process. And of course, we owe a deep debt of gratitude to our national hero, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who provided honest, science-based advice to the American people throughout these tense and trying times, despite pressure from the Trump Administration to play down the pandemic. Americans clearly agree, as evidenced by “Thank You, Dr. Fauci” signs on lawns across America!