The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Keith Rowley, is not happy with the global spread of COVID vaccines. He is not happy at all.
“We are more than a little concerned that there is … or will be … a rally and raise prices,” Vaccines said in a news conference Thursday with the head of the World Health Organization.
He knows very well how difficult it is to get vaccines right now.
Although nearly 60 million doses of COVID vaccine have been given in the United States, most countries in the world have vaccinated almost no one. Eventually, Trinidad and Tobago fired their first front-line workers on Wednesday – but that was only possible because the Indian government gave the island nation 2,000 doses.
In an excellent world, the price of a vaccine vial would be consistent across the globe.
But at this stage of vaccine delivery, it is difficult to find out basic facts – like, what a vial costs. Companies keep prices just a secret.
To bring more clarity, UNICEF has compiled a chart of how much non-profit countries and organizations are paying for doses, drawing from local news reports, a report by Reuters and documents obtained from several sources.
There is a huge price range as some vaccines are more expensive than others.
But even for the same vaccine – the AstraZeneca vaccine has been touted as one of the most affordable in the world – there are notable differences.
The company does not publish the exact price they are charging although CEO Pascal Soriot has repeatedly promised that it will be generally available “with no benefit during the pandemic.”
This has led to reports of completely different prices paid by governments in different parts of the world. And examples of poor countries paying much more than rich countries for the same product.
South Africa is reportedly paying $ 5.25 a dose for a version of the vaccine made in India while a poorly revised version of the deal between AstraZeneca and the European Commission shows Europeans pay only $ 3.50 per bullet. Uganda apparently got an even worse contract paying $ 8.50 a dose according to Reuters and government officials cited in the Health Policy Guard. Even if the difference in price is only a few dollars per dose, multiply that by millions of doses required and the effect can be quite large.
According to the available data, the cost of some other vaccines is changing even more aggressively. Prices reported for the inoculation from the company Sinopharm, backed by the Chinese government, fluctuate even more. They range from $ 18.50 per bullet in Senegal to $ 44 within China to up to $ 72.50 per dose. That’s for vaccines that have not yet been approved by a major regulator outside China.
Manuel Martin with the Doctors Without Borders Access campaign says smaller countries are at a disadvantage in talks with pharmaceutical companies for vaccines.
“They are [smaller] countries have no purchasing power or the ability to strike bilateral agreements, “Martin says – even though they are rich.” In fact, manufacturers are less interested in delivering small quantities to smaller countries than they are delivering larger quantities to countries with larger numbers and also greater purchasing power. “
A global initiative called COVAX is being run by the World Health Organization, GAVI and the Consortium for Epidemic Preparation Innovation seeks to provide equitable access to vaccines around the world, providing the -free or at a lower price for countries in crisis.
But even COVAX does not reveal exactly what it pays for each vaccine. “Regarding the individual agreements with manufacturers, that is property information and not something we intend to share, given the nature of the types of commercial and legal agreements,” said Seth Berkley, head of GAVI, the Vaccination Alliance. in a call with reporters in December.
And although it appears that he is close to starting delivery so far he has not given a single dose.
Even middle-income countries that have hosted clinical trials for vaccine manufacturers are finding it difficult to negotiate with the very companies that helped them. Argentina held a major Stage 3 test for Pfizer but were unable to reach an agreement with the company to purchase their highly successful product.
Peru did tests for Sinopharm but then lawyers say they would not get a discount when the trial phase was over and would have to start paying for Sinopharm photos.
“There are people out there who are literally putting their bodies on the line to advance the development of these vaccines and then changing them when it comes to vaccine access,” says Martin with Doctors Without Borders. “Price is one element. The other is that they even get access to doses.”
He says an “apartheid vaccine” is developing in which the rich will have early access to doses and access to the most effective scenes.
As changes continue to spread, Martin warns that global inequality of vaccines could worsen.
“New changes could eliminate some of the vaccines, and then those vaccines are the ones that richer countries don’t want, and these are the ones that are available,” he says. we may even experience inequalities in the quality or appropriateness of vaccines between high – income and developing countries. “
Prime Minister Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago says it doesn’t have to be this way.
“History is spelled with examples of destructive behavior, disrespectful leadership, inequality and other forms of human discouragement,” Rowley said.
“But at this rare time, when we have all been deceived into an invisible destroyer, it is my hope and claim that when the magazine of this knowledge is written, it will go beyond what is normal. usually and record at this time, did the rich pay attention to the poor. And those who were small and incompetent were not plagued with shame by those who could have done so simply because they had the space to do so. “
He called for the global distribution of vaccines based on models of “sharing and caring” that give small countries equal access as his own and “the benefit of all of humanity and not just the few well-off, well-off. “
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