Pfizer has power to 'silence' governments and 'maximize profits', consumer group alleges

[Elderberry]

ABC News AU by David Chau 10/20/2021

Key points:

•   The company is able to change its vaccine delivery schedule (without penalty)

•   Brazil can't accept COVID vaccine donations from other nations, without Pfizer's consent

•   Pfizer raised the annual sales forecast for its COVID-19 vaccines to $US33.5b (up 29 per cent)

COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer Pfizer has been accused of hiding behind a veil of secrecy to profiteer during the "worst public health crisis" in over 100 years.

That was the key criticism made by Public Citizen, a consumer rights group, which published a report containing leaked Pfizer contracts with the United States, United Kingdom, European Commission, Albania, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Dominican Republic and Peru.

In some of the contracts (some of which were in draft or final form), Pfizer had the power to block countries from donating their COVID-19 vaccines to other countries, unilaterally change delivery schedules if there was a shortage, and demand that public assets be used as collateral.

If there was a dispute, it would be not be decided by a court (a public forum), according to some of the contracts. Instead, they stated, any disagreements would be resolved through private arbitration under New York law.

"The contracts offer a rare glimpse into the power one pharmaceutical corporation has gained to silence governments, throttle supply, shift risk and maximise profits in the worst public health crisis in a century," Zain Rizvi, the author of the report, said.

    "Pfizer’s demands have generated outrage around the world, slowing purchase agreements and even pushing back the delivery schedule of vaccines."

Some countries signed contracts, waiving "immunity against [Pfizer's] precautionary seizure of any of [their] assets", including Brazil, Chile, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.

The Brazilian government was prohibited from making "any public announcement concerning the existence, subject matter or terms of [the] agreement" or commenting about its relationship with Pfizer, unless it had the company's prior written consent.

More: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-20/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-contracts/100553958

[mystery-ak]

Pfizer has secret government contracts for COVID vaccines: Advocacy group says company puts profits over public health and reveals seven of its contracts are worth $5BILLION

    Advocacy group Public Citizen gained access to several leaked and unredacted contracts between Pfizer and both domestic and foreign governments
    The company has 73 formalized deals for its COVID-19 vaccine, but only five have been formally published and include redactions
    Seven unredacted contracts reviewed by Public Citizen are worth more than $5 billion
    Public Citizen claims Pfizer used power to 'shift risk and maximize profits' in their secret government contracts
    The group accuses Pfizer of blocking donations of the jab, opposing intellectual property waivers, having unilateral authority on decisions and more
    Pfizer has reportedly rejected the group's allegations

By Natasha Anderson For Dailymail.Com

Published: 09:32 EDT, 20 October 2021 | Updated: 10:56 EDT, 20 October 2021

A consumer rights advocacy group has released a report revealing that COVID vaccine producer Pfizer has secret government contracts and used power to 'shift risk and maximize profits.'

Pfizer has 73 formalized deals for its COVID-19 vaccine but of those, only five have been formally published by governments and include 'significant redactions,' Public Citizen found.

The seven known contracts reviewed by Public Citizen are worth more than $5 billion.

more
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10111521/Pfizer-secret-government-contracts-COVID-vaccines.html

[PeteS in CA]

Founded by Ralph Nader, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Citizen . Their claims should be taken with a block of salt.

[jmyrlefuller]

Founded by Ralph Nader, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Citizen . Their claims should be taken with a block of salt.

True... but I do recall several years ago attending a town hall held by my representative, at the time it was Randy Kuhl, and he talked about this issue. He mentioned a lot of the same concerns about this thing in the context of the Dems' talking point of "allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices." Kuhl pointed out that there had to be limits on that because the government could quickly end up in these kinds of exclusivity deals that end up harming the end consumer, much like the kind being described here.

It appears that the United States was smart enough not to lose too much leverage to Pfizer when it gave them Operation Warp Speed money—so give the Trump administration credit on that. Perhaps that's why Pfizer was so eager to get in front and deny they were part of OWS: they didn't get what they wanted, though they did get quite a bit of cash.