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EU used its negotiating power to drive the price of covid vaccine down, and now producers are ignoring "low profit" EU contracts and selling vaccines to highest

EU used its negotiating power to drive the price of covid vaccine down, and now producers are ignoring "low profit" EU contracts and selling vaccines to highest bidder.

s1artibartfast 6y ago
Do we actually know how the price the Australian gov negotiated compares?
StavrosK 6y ago
And for $1/dose, as if I want to save $2 instead of getting two doses more quickly... What the hell were they thinking?
pityJuke 6y ago
AZ is required by its contract with Oxford to sell at no profit during the pandemic period [1]. "A key element of Oxford’s partnership with AstraZeneca is the joint commitment to provide the vaccine on a not-for-profit basis for the duration of the pandemic across the world, and in perpetuity to low- and middle-income countries." [1]: https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-11-23-oxford-university-breakthrough-global-covid-19-vaccine https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-11-23-oxford-university-break...
mrtksn 6y ago
I wonder if there is push for this narrative with throwaway accounts? This was discussed many times, If I remember correctly the negotiatons were not on the price but on the liability issues etc. I mean, AZ says its selling at no-profit. Did EU made them to sell at loss then? What's the logic of this narrative?
- Stannary 6y ago
  https://observer.com/2020/11/covid19-vaccine-price-pfizer-moderna-astrazeneca-oxford/ https://observer.com/2020/11/covid19-vaccine-price-pfizer-mo... On Monday, AstraZeneca said it will provide vaccines at cost “in perpetuity” to low- and middle-income countries in the developing world. Do any of the Australia or EU belong to "low- and middle-income countries in the developing world"
  - mrtksn 6y ago
    >Do any of the Australia or EU belong to "low- and middle-income countries in the developing world" Partly, yes. Some of the countries still play catch up after being part of or aligned with USSR up until it imploded in the beginning of the 90s. If the EU countries were bidding against each other maybe a few exceptionally rich and small countries might have end up as Israel while others pay much much higher prices for not-better situation and the rest simply end up like Africa. I don't think that the contracts would have made any difference in the supply. If that was the case, US could have simply be done before Trump loses election by pouring it's enormous monetary resources. I don't think that US run out of paper for contracts in the Trump era.
    - Stannary 6y ago
      A this is a lie as well: https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n281 https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n281 "The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is much cheaper, although neither the UK nor the US can match the EU’s $2.15 deal: they are expecting to pay about $3 and $4, respectively, per dose."
- pkaye 6y ago
  What I heard is that EU countries would take the initial liability up to some threshold for AZ vaccines. Sort of a deductible before AZ needs to to cover the loss. The problem with the negotiations on liability is that each day delay in contract may result is bigger loss due to deaths from COVID.

EU used its negotiating power to drive the price of covid vaccine down, and now producers are ignoring "low profit" EU contracts and selling vaccines to highest bidder.

s1artibartfast 6y ago

Do we actually know how the price the Australian gov negotiated compares?

StavrosK 6y ago

And for $1/dose, as if I want to save $2 instead of getting two doses more quickly... What the hell were they thinking?

pityJuke 6y ago

AZ is required by its contract with Oxford to sell at no profit during the pandemic period [1]. "A key element of Oxford’s partnership with AstraZeneca is the joint commitment to provide the vaccine on a not-for-profit basis for the duration of the pandemic across the world, and in perpetuity to low- and middle-income countries." [1]: https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-11-23-oxford-university-breakthrough-global-covid-19-vaccine https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-11-23-oxford-university-break...

mrtksn 6y ago

I wonder if there is push for this narrative with throwaway accounts? This was discussed many times, If I remember correctly the negotiatons were not on the price but on the liability issues etc. I mean, AZ says its selling at no-profit. Did EU made them to sell at loss then? What's the logic of this narrative?

Stannary 6y ago
https://observer.com/2020/11/covid19-vaccine-price-pfizer-moderna-astrazeneca-oxford/ https://observer.com/2020/11/covid19-vaccine-price-pfizer-mo... On Monday, AstraZeneca said it will provide vaccines at cost “in perpetuity” to low- and middle-income countries in the developing world. Do any of the Australia or EU belong to "low- and middle-income countries in the developing world"
- mrtksn 6y ago
  >Do any of the Australia or EU belong to "low- and middle-income countries in the developing world" Partly, yes. Some of the countries still play catch up after being part of or aligned with USSR up until it imploded in the beginning of the 90s. If the EU countries were bidding against each other maybe a few exceptionally rich and small countries might have end up as Israel while others pay much much higher prices for not-better situation and the rest simply end up like Africa. I don't think that the contracts would have made any difference in the supply. If that was the case, US could have simply be done before Trump loses election by pouring it's enormous monetary resources. I don't think that US run out of paper for contracts in the Trump era.
  - Stannary 6y ago
    A this is a lie as well: https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n281 https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n281 "The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is much cheaper, although neither the UK nor the US can match the EU’s $2.15 deal: they are expecting to pay about $3 and $4, respectively, per dose."
pkaye 6y ago
What I heard is that EU countries would take the initial liability up to some threshold for AZ vaccines. Sort of a deductible before AZ needs to to cover the loss. The problem with the negotiations on liability is that each day delay in contract may result is bigger loss due to deaths from COVID.