U.S. Should Buy Coronavirus Vaccines Before They’re Invented

The $8.3 billion spending bill that President Donald Trump signed last week to address the coronavirus crisis contains a provision that could be costly: When a vaccine for the virus becomes available, the law says, the government can spend no more than a “fair and reasonable” price for it. But it does not require the drugmaker to accept such a payment.

The law includes a pricing mechanism, but it relies in part on comparisons with other vaccine prices, and these vary widely: Medicare reimburses about $56 for Sanofi’s influenza vaccine, $500 per course for Merck’s human papilloma vaccine, and $5,000 per injection for Amgen’s melanoma vaccine.