Pfizer launches digital platform so you can easily book and schedule your next vaccination

Pfizer has recently launched a new digital platform called Pfizer For All through which they hope to market their products directly to the public.  The platform will help people access Pfizer’s vaccines.

This comes after a tumultuous couple of years as sales for covid-related products drop and the company’s covid-flu combination vaccine fails in trials.

Pfizer For All was launched on 27 August 2024 to simplify the process of seeking care, scheduling appointments and receiving end-to-end services and support for Americans affected by common illnesses like migraine, covid and flu. Pfizer want to simply people’s access because “healthcare in the US is complicated,” the company says.

Users can book appointments through the website and verify their eligibility for covid, flu, RSV and pneumococcal pneumonia vaccinations at preferred retail pharmacies or find vaccine availability in their local area.

As Sasha Latypova pointed out, this follows a trademark application that Pfizer filed earlier this year that hinted at its plans for a direct-to-patient programme.

Direct-to-consumer advertising is not new in the pharmaceutical industry but “what is new and looks very desperate is to me is Pfizer will be issuing prescriptions directly to patients now, using a contracted service, UpScript,” Latypova said.

UpScript is a telehealth platform that provides fast access to prescription medication.  People who use UpScript are promised that they can select a treatment from a comprehensive list of medications, get a prescription approved via a quick and affordable virtual appointment with a licensed healthcare provider, and get medication delivered to their doorstep.  It’s questionable whether the healthcare provider educates UpScript users about the risks, benefits and alternatives of a medication.  This process of educating patients about a given procedure or intervention is the “informed” part of informed consent, an ethical and legal obligation of medical practitioners in the US.

Which leads to the question: Why is Pfizer attempting to push its products directly to the public, albeit through a telehealth platform?   Latypova has found the answer.  Quoting from “industry news”, she said:

Pfizer has had a tumultuous couple of years as covid-related product sales have dropped and it’s been forced to cut billions in costs. It’s not clear to what extent the direct-to-consumer push will drive more sales.

Pfizer’s vaccine business is so pfucked that they are going direct to patient Rx, Sasha Latypova, 7 September 2024

“So, the hope now is to milk the remaining brainwashed until those are totally dead,” Latypova said.

As well as covid products that few want, Pfizer-BioNTech’s combo covid-flu shot has failed in Phase 3 trials.  Presumably quoting from the same “industry news” article, Latypova wrote:

The companies’ covid-flu vaccine didn’t meet the Phase 3 primary endpoint of non-inferior immunogenicity against influenza, in comparison with people who received separate Covid and flu vaccines.

Pfizer’s head of vaccine research Annaliesa Anderson said in a statement that the company is “evaluating next steps” for the combined vaccine. The company has plans to potentially make tweaks to improve how it responds to influenza B and also meet with health authorities. Late last year, CEO Albert Bourla said Pfizer was planning to launch the combined vaccine in 2025.

Pfizer’s vaccine business is so pfucked that they are going direct to patient Rx, Sasha Latypova, 7 September 2024

“They will probably be hawking this tweaked brew directly to the consumers on their new website,” Latypova said.

Will you be one of the guinea pigs signing up to Pfizer for All?