A monitor displays Pfizer Inc. signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Friday, June 9, 2017. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)

Pfizer and Moderna stocks tumble over anticipated low COVID-19 vaccination rate

Gabrielle M. Etzel September 18, 05:23 PM September 18, 05:23 PM Video Embed

Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna stock prices fell precipitously on Monday as a result of anticipated low uptake rates for the updated COVID-19 vaccines.

Pfizer CFO David Denton said at a press conference on Monday that he anticipates 24% of the U.S. population, or 82 million people, will receive the updated COVID-19 vaccines that received approval from the Food and Drug Administration last week.

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As of May, only 17% of the nation had received the bivalent booster vaccination against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At the close of the market on Monday, Pfizer lost 1.34% of its value, BioNTech lost 3.54%, and Moderna lost 9.10%.

Pfizer and BioNTech announced on Tuesday of last week at a CDC advisory meeting that they would be charging approximately $120 for their mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, while Moderna would be charging closer to $130. The Biden administration announced in July that it would begin commercializing the COVID-19 preparedness strategy, only relying upon government-purchased vaccines for those without insurance or with insurance that would not cover the updated shot.

The FDA issued approval for the vaccines that are targeted to the omicron XBB 1.5 variant but are expected to provide sufficient protection against other variants circulating in the coming cold and flu season, such as BA 2.86 and EG.5. The CDC recommends the vaccine for anyone over the age of 6 months.

Pfizer said in August that it would need to cut back on expenses if its COVID-19 vaccine and antiviral treatment products continued to underperform due to decreasing demand.

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On Monday, Denton told reporters that the pharmaceutical giant would be providing more information regarding cost-cutting measures in the coming months.

“We want to make sure that we’re investing appropriately based on our R&D pipeline and the investments that we’re making and bets that we made… are aligned to the revenue performance of the company long term, Denton said.

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