# Vaccines are not effect...need some debunking helpage **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-are-not-effect-need-some-debunking-helpage/514352 "2009-10-19T16:52:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-are-not-effect-need-some-debunking-helpage/514352/21 "2009-10-20T22:29:09Z")
We don’t vaccinate against scarlet fever because scarlet fever is strep throat and you can cure that with antibiotics. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-are-not-effect-need-some-debunking-helpage/514352/22 "2009-10-20T22:35:38Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Cite, please. > > Because this is contrary to everything I know about drug companies. For example, their industry is one of the most profitable sectors of the stock market. So it doesn’t seem like they are taking much of ‘a loss’ on the business. Some vaccines are profitable. Many are not. For example the pharmaceutical companies expect to make billions in profit from the gardarsil vaccines that helps reduce the risk of cervical and vaginal cancers. Many others are in short supply because the costs to manufacture them are not covered by the costs parents and doctors pay to get them. [http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba655#](http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba655#) > [@](#): > > Vaccines account for only 2 percent of pharmaceutical revenues. As a result the same paper points out there have been shortages of common vacines: > [@](#): > > For example, of the 12 pediatric vaccines recommended for all children, there have been severe shortages of more than half, ranging from a shortage of MMR-vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) lasting seven months to a shortage of PNU-vaccine (pneumococcal infections like meningitis) lasting nearly two years! ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-are-not-effect-need-some-debunking-helpage/514352/23 "2009-10-21T01:28:25Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Cite, please. > > Because this is contrary to everything I know about drug companies. For example, their industry is one of the most profitable sectors of the stock market. So it doesn’t seem like they are taking much of ‘a loss’ on the business. There’s also more about this issue in the article Griffin1977 posted: [http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/ff\_waronscience/5/](http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/ff_waronscience/5/) > [@](#): > > RotaTeq costs a little under $4 a dose to make, according to Offit. Merck has sold a total of more than 24 million doses in the US, most for $69.59 a pop — a 17-fold markup. Not bad, but pharmaceutical companies do sell a lot of vaccines at cost to the developing world and in some cases give them away. Merck committed $75 million in 2006 to vaccinate all children born in Nicaragua for three years. In 2008, Merck’s revenue from RotaTeq was $665 million. Meanwhile, a blockbuster drug like Pfizer’s Lipitor is a $12 billion-a-year business. In other words some money but not a lot compared to other avenues of revenue. ---
**Author:** ![Bobalude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bobalude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobalude)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-are-not-effect-need-some-debunking-helpage/514352/24 "2009-10-21T05:09:44Z")
Does that $4/dose include research/testing cost averaged out… or is it the marginal cost to produce 1 dose now after it’s been developed and cleared for sale? ---
**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-are-not-effect-need-some-debunking-helpage/514352/25 "2009-10-21T09:32:15Z")
> [@Bobalude](#): > > Does that $4/dose include research/testing cost averaged out… or is it the marginal cost to produce 1 dose now after it’s been developed and cleared for sale? Fair point - costing is as long as a piece of string. Also there will be very real benefits from being an established vaccine supplier, getting new drugs to market involves numerous hoops - any ‘goodwill’ is pretty valuable. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-are-not-effect-need-some-debunking-helpage/514352/26 "2009-10-21T12:30:06Z")
In addition to **LavenderBlue** ’s good information about vaccine costs and profits, it’s worth noting that decades ago there were many companies making vaccines…but that number is now down to a handful, and shortages occur. If vaccine production was so profitable, you’d expect far more investment in it. The reality is that making vaccines, especially for diseases like influenza, is a crapshoot. You’re largely dependent on sales to governments, which have unpredictable and stringent production requirements. Due to all the hype and misinformation churned out by antivaxers, your sales can be affected and potential liability costs are high. Antivaxers like to play the Big Pharma Evil card. But like all their other ploys, the truth differs considerably from their claims. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccines-are-not-effect-need-some-debunking-helpage/514352.md?page=1)