Vials with the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
Photographer: Liesa Johannssen-Koppitz / Bloomberg
Photographer: Liesa Johannssen-Koppitz / Bloomberg
Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE offers to supply their Covid-19 vaccine to South Africa at a discount of $ 10 per dose, but according to the person familiar with the president, the president’s office still described the cost as unaffordable.
The price is calculated according to South Africa’s status as a middle income nation and is about half of what the drug manufacturers are The person asked not to be identified as the information was not disclosed. The fact that the companies are conducting a vaccine trial in the country was also taken into account, the person said.
A spokesperson for the department of health in South Africa said that the ministry could not comment on the pricing, as an agreement has yet to be concluded. Representatives of Pfizer and BioNTech in Europe declined to comment on the ongoing talks, but said they were “determined to provide affordable and affordable access to Covid-19 vaccines for people around the world, including South Africa.”
The government of South Africa is coming under increasing pressure from its trade unionists, opposition parties and medical professions over the failure to provide any bilateral agreements with pharmaceutical companies. Although at least 29 countries have already started vaccinating their populations, South Africa only expects to have about 10% of its population shot in the second quarter. The agreement was arranged through the Covax initiative, which aims to ensure that poorer countries can gain access.
Click here for more information on the criticism
The country has had 1.1 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 and nearly 30,000 deaths, the most of any African nation.
The South African presidency sent a statement to Bloomberg News on Sunday said Pfizer is one of at least three companies with which the government is negotiating to provide shots. It is also said that Pfizer offered 50 million doses to health workers in Africa that would arrive between March and the end of the year.
“Factors that will be taken into account include suitability for the South African context,” the presidency said, pointing out that the Pfizer vaccine requires ultra-cold storage. “The cost is also excessive.”
Tyrone Seale, acting spokeswoman for President Cyril Ramaphosa, declined to comment further.
– Assisted by Naomi Kresge
(Updates to Pfizer’s third paragraph comment)