IN BRIEF
- Pharmacies will determine what they charge, with experts estimating a private dose could cost up to $80.
- Experts warn people outside funded groups may weigh vaccination benefits against the price.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Public Health Special Interest Group chair Dr Peter Markey said he expected privately purchased COVID-19 vaccines could cost between $30 and $80, although he stressed no price had yet been confirmed.
He said the eventual cost would depend on individual pharmacies and encouraged people who wanted a vaccine to compare prices.
“Let’s hope it’s not going to be too much more than the regular seasonal flu vaccine,” Markey said.
Given that Health is usually a Stare Government portfolio matter, this will come down to the state health departments. WA has an annual vaccine programme for the flu, I’ve been getting both Flu and Covid boosters every year for the last 3-4 years. I didn’t realise the federal government has been covering the Covid one all this time. I thought the state paid for both.
It sounds like the Covid Vaccine is moving away from the federal health department. That doesn’t mean the states (or some of them at least) might not pick up the tab. So ‘Australians could lose access to the free vaccine’ in some cases. But the article doesn’t specify which Australians, because they don’t know. It doesn’t come right out and say Australians will lose access to the free vaccine either - because again, they don’t actually know.
I hate articles like this. Ambiguous wording leading to probable fearmongering.