Vaccine procurement models
The United Kingdom
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) makes vaccine-related policies with the guidance and recommendation of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI). The JCVI is responsible for reviewing evidence and data on the vaccine safety, immunogenicity, efficacy, cost-effectiveness, and uptake status. The DHSC procures vaccines that are included in the National Immunization Program. The target of the procurement is to maximize the QALY gained with the limited budget spending. The current cost-effectiveness threshold is £20,000 per QALY. To ensure vaccine supply security, the DHSC selects multiple manufacturers and allows them to provide tiered pricing based on different procurement volume¹.
The United States of America
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), established within the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is responsible for developing immunization schedules. Other CDC divisions handle vaccine adverse event monitoring and the procurement, distribution, and administration of vaccines under government-funded immunization programs. The CDC directly transfers payment to manufacturers and uses a centralized vaccine tracking system (VTrckS) to manage and distribute publicly funded vaccines effectively. The Vaccine for Children Program’s vaccine distribution is operated by one logistic company nationwide2.
Canada
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) provides general recommendations on vaccinations, while provinces and territories select vaccines based on their specific needs. Vaccines are federally licensed through Health Canada. Provincial and territorial health departments procure licensed vaccines from the market under federal contracts and provide them to the public free of charge. Before awarding contracts to manufacturers, provinces or territories must estimate their demand with the purchasing volume reaching at least 75% of the estimated demand. If two manufacturers are awarded contracts, the Canadian government typically allocates procurement volumes based on the price difference between the winning bidders. The more significant the price difference between the two bidders, the higher the quantity awarded to the bidder who offers the lowest price3.
Thailand
Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) is responsible for the design and strategic planning of the immunization program, while the National Health Security Office (NHSO) operates as an independent purchaser. The NHSO negotiates budgets with the Budget Bureau and oversees the centralized procurement and distribution of vaccines. The NHSO contracts with a commercial company to deliver vaccines to district hospitals, sub-district hospitals (the most common vaccination sites), and other primary healthcare facilities. The NHSO also invests in the cold chain required for vaccine distribution, with maintenance costs included in the capitation-based budget. Currently, Thailand is discussing transferring vaccine procurement responsibilities from the NHSO to the MoPH to consolidate procurement and supply chain management 4.
Vaccine procurement prices
In September 2024, the U.S. CDC released vaccine procurement prices for 2024. Private suppliers and individual citizens cannot purchase vaccines directly through CDC contracts. The procurement prices of the combination vaccines are exclusive for immunization programs under the CDC Immunization Cooperative Agreement.
| 2024 CDC Vaccine Purchase Prices in the United States | ||
| Type of vaccine | trade name | CDC price (one dose) |
| DTaP-IPV | Quadracel™ | $47.906 |
| DTaP-IPV | Kinrix® | $48.279 |
| DTaP-HepB-IPV | Pediarix® | $66.069 |
| DTaP-IP-HI | Pentacel® | $70.186 |
| DTaP-IPV-Hib-HepB | Vaxelis™ | $100.589 |
In 2017, the procurement price for a one-dose pentavalent vaccine in some European countries ranged from $20.8 to $28.3, which was lower than the purchasing price of the U.S. CDC.
| Purchase prices of pentavalent vaccine in selected European countries in 2017 | |||
| Country | Type of vaccine | Vaccine brands | Price (one dose) |
| Spain | DTaP-Hib-IPV | GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi | €22.4 |
| Portugal | GlaxoSmithKline | €19.0 | |
| Poland | GlaxoSmithKline | €25.8 | |
| Ukraine | Sanofi | €22.1 | |
International organizations, such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (Gavi), and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), typically procure vaccines in large volumes for low- and middle-income countries at prices significantly lower than many country-level vaccine procurement prices. The table below presents the procurement prices by the PAHO Revolving Fund in 2022:
| 2022 PAHO Revolving Fund for Access to Vaccines Prices | |
| Type of vaccine | PAHO price (one dose) |
| DTaP-IPV | $13.23 |
| DTaP-Hib-IPV | $16.31 |
| DTaP-IPV-Hib-HepB | $21.12 |
Content Editor: Xiaotong Yang
Page Editor: Ziqi Liu
Reference
- Mengying Li, Xinghui Li, Chaowei Fu, et al. The comparative analysis of vaccine procurement, distribution, and monitoring between China and the United Kingdom[J]. Healthy development and policy research, 2021, 24(2): 153-156,165 https://doi.org/10.13688/j.cnki.chr.2021.200334
- Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, U.S. Economic and Commercial Counselor’s Office. Analysis of the U.S. Vaccine Safety Management System. http://us.mofcom.gov.cn/article/ztdy/201701/20170102497590.shtml. Accessed June 25, 2023.
- Canadian Public Health Association. The value of immunization in the future of Canada’s health system. https://www.cpha.ca/sites/ default/files/assets/policy/immun_e.pdf. Accessed June 30, 2023.
- Coe, Martha and Jessica Gergen. August 2017. “Thailand Country Brief”. Sustainable Immunization Financing in Asia Pacific. Washington, DC: ThinkWell.
