Offers already signed indicate that people in low-income countries will be excluded from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine
‘Big Pharma profits should not be prioritized over the health of billions’ – Tamaryn Nelson
Amaresty International health researcher Tamaryn Nelson said in an announcement from Pfizer-BioNTech that the COVID-19 vaccine he was developing was effective in 90 percent of people:
“It is good news that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been shown to be effective against COVID-19. quarter of its projected supply for the rest of the world.
“This kind of bilateral transaction could undermine the potential benefits of scientific breakthroughs. Big Pharma’s profits should not be prioritized over the health of billions.
‘Pfizer-BioNTech urgently needs to explain how it will maximize access to vaccines in low- and middle-income countries to save lives. It must also share its vaccine technology with other manufacturers via the WHO’s COVID-19 Technology Access Pool, so that the billions of vaccines we need can be produced as quickly and cheaply as possible.
“The pandemic will be over before it is over for everyone.”
Pfizer BioNTech Offers
Pfizer-BioNTech has already entered into agreements for more than one billion potential doses of the vaccine, including initial doses of 100 million to the US, 30 million to the UK, 120 million to Japan, 20 million to Canada, 1.5 million to New Zealand and 200 million to the EU. It also agreed rights to a further doses of 500 million with the US and 100 million with the EU.
Given the companies’ prediction that they could make 50 million doses in 2020 and 1.3 billion in 2021, this leaves only a small fraction of the potential doses for other countries. Each person receiving the vaccine needs two doses to be protected against COVID-19.
The World Health Organization has set up the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool, a scheme for pharmaceutical companies to voluntarily share the right technology, data and property rights regarding COVID-19 vaccinations. So far no company has reported this, and Pfizer’s CEO described it as “nonsense” when it was launched in May.