Demand in the U.S. might be limited, since President Joe Biden recently bought enough vaccine doses from Pfizer (PFE -1.05%) and Moderna (MRNA -0.34%) to vaccinate nearly all Americans. But global demand remains high. In this Motley Fool Live video recorded on Feb. 26, 2021, healthcare and cannabis bureau chief Corinne Cardina and Fool.com contributor Adria Cimino discuss opportunity in Europe and why AstraZeneca might have an advantage.
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Corinne Cardina: Let's talk about demand. When you look at the United States, we have 600 million doses that have been secured. That's enough to vaccinate 330 million people. Is there any demand left in the U.S.? And what do we know about the global demand and the pricing landscape?
Adria Cimino: Okay. Well, as far as the U.S., I'm concerned about near-term demand in the U.S. I think because of that big order from the U.S. government to cover the whole country in the near term, I think that that could be something that could block a lot of other companies from getting in on the U.S. market right away this year, unless really Pfizer or Moderna was to have a production problem and they couldn't deliver all the order. That will be different, but otherwise, I don't s
ee how another company could make inroads at this point. The opportunity in the U.S. is more in the long term. It's more of the idea of a company coming up with a great booster or they can handle the new strains or a one-shot vaccine and things like that. That's something to keep an eye on.
As far as global demand, I think that's pretty high. If you look at Europe, it's really been struggling. It's been very slow to authorize and order vaccine doses. This is a market where I think there could be a lot of potential. Now, the only thing is pricing has been generally lower in Europe, so that could be one issue.
Also, Europe has a lot of vaccine doses from AstraZeneca (AZN 0.39%). AstraZeneca, as we've said, is one that is not taking a profit. So they've been able to get a lower price on that vaccine than they would from another company that is taking a profit. That could be difficult for another company trying to enter the European market right now. That's something we'll just have to keep an eye on moving forward.
