A couple of weeks ago, Dr. Tom Van Gilder, Walmart's chief medical officer, announced that the chain was preparing to supply the COVID-19 vaccine in its more than 5,000 pharmacies in the United States. Now, in social networks the rumor has been unleashed that the Pfizer immunizer can be bought at Walmart and Sam's Club for only $ 20 , that is, about 400 Mexican pesos. But what is the truth in this?
According to an official statement from Walmart , the company was in the process of acquiring the necessary equipment to store the vaccines, such as special freezers and dry ice. These must be kept at a temperature between -80 and -60 ° C to remain effective for up to 6 months. In a typical hospital refrigeration unit, the drug will remain viable for five days, Pfizer noted.
Many people misunderstood the ad and spread that the Pfizer vaccine will be sold in such supermarkets. The rumor was accompanied by a doctored image, where it appears that the drug would be available in the form of a vaporizer cartridge. Each dose would supposedly be the same price that Pfizer and BioNTech agreed with the US government: $ 20.
Mexican Internet users replicated the false information, expressing their outrage that the government of the country will not commercialize the vaccine. A few days ago, when the first shipment of Pfizer's drug against the coronavirus arrived in Mexico , Hugo López-Gatell made it clear that the federal government will not allow it to be sold by individuals and warned to the population about possible fraud.
Many accused the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador of wanting to monopolize the vaccine by preventing people from getting a dose on their own.