Held to ransom: Pfizer demands governments gamble with state assets to secure vaccine deal

[sandensea]

Pfizer has been accused of “bullying” Latin American governments in Covid 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 (over 457,000 Covid-19 deaths have been recoded thus far in South America).

Officials from Argentina and the other Latin American country, which cannot be named as it has signed a confidentiality agreement with Pfizer, said the company’s negotiators demanded additional indemnity against any civil claims citizens might file if they experienced adverse effects after being inoculated.

In Argentina and Brazil, Pfizer asked for sovereign assets to be put up as collateral for any future legal costs.

At: https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2021-02-23/held-to-ransom-pfizer-demands-governments-gamble-with-state-assets-to-secure-vaccine-deal

The first shipment of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine arrive in Argentina on December 29.

The country has originally sought vaccine supplies from Pfizer, and was the first in the region to participate in Phase 3 trials in August.

But authorities from Argentina and Brazil - normally at odds ideologically - revealed that Pfizer later demanded not only legal immunity from any adverse effects; but the placing of government buildings and other assets as guarantees against potential legal liability.

The demands led to an end of negotiations between the two South American countries and Pfizer.