IS MERCK'S MEASLES VACCINE MONOPOLY
A CAUSE FOR CONCERN?
First, how did Merck become the country’s sole supplier of these measles vaccines, and is that a problem? Well, is it a problem depends on who you talk to. But Merck became the sole supplier because the vaccine market is highly concentrated. It’s incredibly expensive to make vaccines. It takes a lot of time to go through all the testing procedures. So, Merck was the first to the table. They developed a vaccine, got approval. They got government contracts and they, essentially, monopolized the market.
