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GoSL considering Pfizer procurement 

25 Feb 2021

  • Unaware of any questionable negotiations tactics 

  Sri Lanka is also considering procuring the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine which is approved by the World Health Organisation, despite Pfizer’s alleged dubious negotiation tactics with other countries which procure its vaccine.  According to State Ministry of Primary Health Care, Epidemics and COVID Disease Control Secretary Dr. Amal Harsha de Silva, the Pfizer vaccine would also receive approval from the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA).  Attempts to contact the NMRA in this regard proved futile.  According to the Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath, the Ministry of Health is presently considering the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine but is not aware of Pfizer’s alleged negotiation tactics with other countries.  Seeking that State assets be put up as collateral for any future legal costs in the case of litigation from citizens over any adverse effects of the vaccine, in order to secure a vaccine deal.  However, the Government of Sri Lanka would make sure about the terms and conditions before making a deal with Pfizer, he said.  “Our interest right now is to procure the Oxford Astra-Zeneca vaccine for a number of reasons. One is that we have vaccinated a portion of our population from this vaccine already. Another is the fact that we have witnessed that this vaccine does not cause any side effects. A third reason is that the Serum Institute of India has been providing us vaccines for our national immunisation programme and we know of the quality of this Institute. It is also close to Sri Lanka and therefore the delivery does not take a lot of time. And a very important reason is the fact that this vaccine can be stored under normal vaccination storage temperatures (2-8° Celsius) that our cold chain facilities have been prepared for,” Herath added.  Meanwhile, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) has revealed that 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 BIJ further added that officials from Argentina and another Latin American country, which cannot be named as it has signed a confidentiality agreement with Pfizer, said that the Company’s negotiators had demanded additional indemnity against any civil claim citizens might file if they experienced adverse effects after being inoculated. In Argentina and Brazil, Pfizer has allegedly asked for sovereign assets to be put up as collateral for any future legal costs.  However, Pfizer told the BIJ: “Globally, we have also allocated doses to low and lower middle income countries at a not for profit price, including an advance purchase agreement with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) COVAX Facility to provide up to 40 million doses this year. We are committed to supporting efforts aimed at providing developing countries with the same access to vaccines as the rest of the world.” It had declined to comment on ongoing private negotiations.  Pfizer has been in talks with more than 100 countries and supranational organisations, and has supply agreements with nine countries in Latin America and the Caribbean including Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay. The terms of those deals are unknown.


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