Congratulations Biden, on successfully privitizing the response to the pandemic!
ACTON – When Glen Cote of Acton drove to his appointment at CVS for the new COVID-19 vaccine, he was shocked to receive a text on his phone minutes before his appointment, letting him know that the vaccine would cost $190.99.
"Nightmare is the first word that comes to mind," he explained to WBZ-TV. Cote is covered by MassHealth, the state's program for Medicaid.
The new COVID-19 shot was approved by the FDA and CDC about a week ago, with the vaccine to be shipped to area pharmacies. Signs outside many CVS stores read "FREE FLU & COVID-19 vaccines here."
Instead, posts on social media show that several people nationwide are getting charged for the shot, anywhere between $125 and $190.
I would be shocked if we see even a 10% vaccination rate by the end of the year. Most people who are still getting vaccinated are only doing it because it's free. Anyone who is relatively healthy is going roll the dice on covid hitting them like a cold instead of dropping a day's pay or more to maybe prevent it.
Apparently there is a lot more interest in the vaccines this year than last, which is good. It's only just over half, but that's way better than last year.
Maybe a lot of people who skipped it last year got knocked down by covid over the past year and don't want a repeat?
The patchwork system of coverage and billing is pretty typically awful and lets people slip through the cracks, but that's just the US healthcare system working as designed.