Secret vaccine contracts in South Africa authorized high prices and huge advance payments

autotldr Bot , 11 months ago

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They provide a glimpse into the exhaustive conditions that were imposed by the vaccine suppliers at a time when thousands of people were dying and developing countries were desperate for doses.

Another supplier, the Serum Institute of India, charged South Africa a price of US$5.35 a dose, according to the contracts.

In response to questions from The Globe, Gavi said it had provided financial incentives to manufacturers to ensure their readiness to produce, and so the payments from countries such as South Africa could not contractually be waived.

Matthew Herder, director of the Health Law Institute at Dalhousie University, said the pricing information in the contracts was “extremely” worrisome.

“It is absolutely clear from these four contracts that South Africa was bullied in terms of sweeping indemnification and confidentiality obligations, complete waiver of sovereign immunity, no guarantee of delivery, requirement of a vaccine compensation program before any doses supplied, no scope for local manufacturing, and zero flexibility to share doses,” Prof. Herder told The Globe.

The health activists spent four days poring over the vaccine contracts after obtaining them last week under the terms of the court order.

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