NPR: It Looked As Though Millions Of Babies Would Miss Out On A Lifesaving Vaccine
“…As NPR reported in November, the pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. Inc. announced it was ending a long-term agreement to supply its rotavirus vaccine, RotaTeq, at a reduced price to families in four West African countries. At the same time, the company began selling the vaccine in China, for more than 12 times the price. Merck’s decision meant that more than 2 million babies were at risk of missing the vaccine, health experts told NPR. … Now the situation has changed — for the good. After NPR broke the news of Merck’s pullout, other vaccine manufacturers stepped up to fill in the gap…” (Doucleff, 5/31).