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Pfizer Demands Governments Gamble With State Assets To Secure Vaccine Deal 24/02/2021
A medical worker fills a syringe with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Tokyo Medical Centre, February 17, 2021. Photo: Behrouz Mehri/Pool via Reuters/File Photo.
Pfizer has been accused of “bullying” Latin American governments in COVID-19 vaccine negotiations and has asked some countries to put up sovereign assets, such as embassy buildings and military bases, as a guarantee against the cost of any future legal cases, the
Bureau of Investigative Journalism can reveal.
In the case of one country, demands made by the pharmaceutical giant led to a three-month delay in a vaccine deal being agreed. For Argentina and Brazil, no national deals were agreed at all. Any hold-up in countries receiving vaccines means more people contracting COVID-19 and potentially dying.
By Madlen Davies, Ivan Ruiz, Jill Langlois,
and Rosa Furneaux The Bureau of Investigative Journalism Feb. 23, 2021Reprints
Courtesy Adrian Johnson
Pfizer has been accused of “bullying” Latin American governments during negotiations to acquire its Covid-19 vaccine, and the company has asked some countries to put up sovereign assets, such as embassy buildings and military bases, as a guarantee against the cost of any future legal cases, according to an investigation by the U.K.-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
In the case of one Latin American country, demands made by the pharmaceutical giant led to a three-month delay in a vaccine deal being reached. For Argentina and Brazil, no national deals were agreed to at all with Pfizer. Any hold-up in countries receiving vaccines can lead to more people contracting Covid-19 and potentially dying.
“Pfizer and BioNTech are firmly committed to working with governments and other relevant stakeholders to ensure equitable and affordable access to our Covid-19 vaccine for people around the world.”
Updated / Tuesday, 15 Dec 2020
15:12
Approval from the European Medicines Agency is needed if vaccination is to begin in all 27 EU states
The EU s medicines regulator brought forward its decision day for the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine under pressure from Germany, meaning vaccinations in the bloc could start by the year s end.
The Amsterdam-based European Medicines Agency s announcement that it will meet on 21 December instead of 29 December to decide whether to authorise the shot, followed a growing backlash from desperate EU countries.
Europe has been lagging behind after Britain - the EMA s former home - became the first country in the world to grant emergency approval for the vaccine, swiftly followed by the United States, Canada, Singapore and Bahrain.