EDITORIAL: SA’s raw deal on Covid-19 vaccines
The contracts signed with pharmaceutical manufacturers show how little negotiating power many governments held
The publication this week of the previously secret Covid-19 vaccine contracts the health department signed with pharmaceutical manufacturers is a stark reminder of how little negotiating power many governments held as they scrambled to secure doses in a time of global scarcity.
SA was clearly a price-taker, compelled to pay more than far wealthier EU member countries did for the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab and accept the rates set by Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. Nor was it in any position to push back on the onerous conditions imposed by pharmaceutical companies, which absolved themselves of any penalties for late deliveries. ..
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