Deliveries of The Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. in South Africa it lagged behind the demands of the American drug manufacturer to determine the safeguards needed to compensate the company for the negative effects of the shootings.
The government resisted this condition and eventually Pfizer stepped back, agreeing to supply 30 million doses of the vaccine developed jointly with German company BioNTech SE.
“This condition posed a potential risk to our assets and taxes,” Finance Minister Zweli Mkhize said in an information document presented on April 14 to parliament’s health committee and reviewed by Bloomberg. “Pfizer finally agreed to remove this problematic term.”
South Africa, which has not yet begun widespread implementation of Covid-19 vaccines, has complained about the terms and conditions imposed by Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson in order to secure supplies. Both companies have conducted vaccine trials in the country.
To learn more about the disagreement with J&J, click here
“As a government, we have found ourselves in a precarious position of having to choose between saving the lives of our citizens and risking putting the country’s assets in the hands of private companies,” he said.
South Africa is establish a no-fault compensation fund to compensate companies for any complaints about their vaccines.
“Pfizer seeks protection against indemnification and liability in all of our agreements in accordance with applicable local laws,” said the company, which added that the terms of the agreement are confidential. “Compensation clauses are often included in contracts with governments for the supply of vaccines during public health emergencies.”
Mkhize also said $ 10-per-dose supply agreements with both companies are non-refundable. The Pfizer vaccine uses a two-dose regimen, while Johnson & Johnson only requires a single dose. Previous plans to use the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine were abandoned after tests showed it was less effective against a virus variant first identified in South Africa.
The demands were previously reported by the Office of Investigative Journalism.
(Updates with AstraZeneca backtracking in the second last paragraph)