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Are the drug companies just trying to get rich?

Health care workers answer questions about the COVID-19 vaccines.

 

Joia Crear-Perry, MD explains why profit is not the main motivator behind the COVID vaccines.

 

Oh, drug companies are always trying to get rich, but that’s not the point. Right? So yes, there are many things they can get rich upon. My counter to—my story around that is that many people—I’m an OBGYN.

So, there’s all these beliefs that there’s all these things to fix, like fibroids and the drug companies just want to get rich and they don’t want to give us this medicine. The truth is, they also have a ethical obligation to ensure people thrive. And so, yes, they do.

They are companies that want to make money. They also are companies who want to last a long time. They want to be here. Pfizer doesn’t want to go out of business because they put some medicine out in the market that doesn’t work at all, right? They have a reputation.

They have to—people invest in their ability to make sure that we are safe and that we have resource, you know, that we have the medicines that we need. So even if it’s for their own, self-servingness, they’re not going to put something on market that would ruin their company and putting out something that doesn’t work or that is harmful and deadly at this moment would ruin their company.

This information is shared for educational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice. The views expressed are those of the featured medical professional and reflect information available to that professional at time of filming. Always consult a health care provider for any personal health decisions. Click here for vaccine FAQs from the CDC.

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