John,

For years, drug corporations have depended on taxpayer money to develop new drug treatments. Between 2010 and 2016, every single one of the over 200 new drugs approved for use was supported by research funding from the National Institutes of Health.[1]

A new analysis by Bloomberg finds that the taxpayer-funded “Warp Speed program’s budget is as large as $18 billion, far bigger than the $10 billion cited by the government” to help speed discovery and production of a COVID-19 vaccine and other treatments.[2] And, with potentially two or more vaccines ready for production and distribution by as early as next month, it’s critical that we prioritize public health over a massive Big Pharma pay day.[3]

Unfortunately, Donald Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar has refused to guarantee the forthcoming vaccines will be made equally available to all.[4]

We must prevent Big Pharma price gouging and instead ensure the vaccine is free and accessible to all!

Join Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund and our partners in demanding all COVID-19 vaccines be free and accessible to everyone, regardless of ability to pay.

As with so many broken aspects of American life, the pandemic has laid bare inequalities felt by communities of color. African Americans, Latine and Native Americans are 2.6 to 2.8 times more likely than white people to get COVID-19. They are 4.7 to 5.3 times more likely to be hospitalized and are up to 2 times more likely to have died from COVID-19 than are white people, according to the Centers for Disease Control.[5]

A basic sense of humanity would demand such equal access, but it’s especially appropriate given the central role taxpayer dollars are playing in the race for a vaccine, and the big tax favors that are bestowed on drug corporations.

While extracting huge sums from government health systems, drug corporations have a history of adding little back by paying their fair share of taxes. Before passage of the 2017 Trump-GOP tax scam, the pharmaceutical industry had stashed the second highest amount of profits—an estimated $600 billion—offshore to avoid U.S. taxes.[6]

Communities of color—hardest hit by the virus and accompanying recession—cannot be shut out of the solution. We demand that all future COVID-19 vaccines be made free and available to everyone, regardless of ability to pay.

The racism that’s made African American, Latine and Native American populations more vulnerable to disease, economic dislocation and police violence must not be allowed to block these same communities from escaping from pandemic misery.  

Thank you for taking action today to demand that public health come before Big Pharma profits.

Frank Clemente
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund

[1] "Drug Corporations' Price Gouging & Tax Dodging Rips Off Patients and Taxpayers," Americans for Tax Fairness and Health Care for America NOW!, Nov. 26, 2019

[2] “Trump Administration Dips Into Protective Gear, CDC Funds to Fund Vaccine Push,” Bloomberg, Sep. 23, 2020

[3] "What you need to know about the Moderna and Pfizer coronavirus vaccines," Washington Post, Nov. 17, 2020

[4] ”Bernie Sanders Grills Health Administration Officials Over Availability of Free COVID-19 Vaccines,” Yahoo News, May 12, 2020

[5] ”COVID-19 Hospitalization and Death by Race/Ethnicity,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Aug. 18, 2020

[6] "$2.6 Trillion in Untaxed Offshore Profits of U.S. Multinational Corporations," Americans for Tax Fairness, Nov. 5, 2017