Pfizer has signed vaccine supply agreements with nine Latin American and Caribbean countries to date : Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , the Dominican Republic , Ecuador , Mexico , Panama , Peru and Uruguay . The terms of those deals are unknown because of the compulsory ‘ non-disclosure agreements ’.
Pfizer is looking at making 15 billion dollars [ 1 lakh crore rupees ] from vaccine sales this year , and is in talks with 100 countries and organisations
The US Department of Health and Human Services , a department that appears to care for people , admitted that it used “ diplomatic relations ” in order to force Brazil , one of the worst-hit countries in terms of the COVID- 19 pandemic , to reject the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V .
AstraZeneca , which holds rights to the Oxford vaccine , which initially promised vaccine sale at cost , is charging African countries much higher sums per dose than their richer counterparts . It was revealed that Uganda was paying $ 7 (£ 5.07 ) and South Africa $ 5.25 (£ 3.80 ) per dose , when the EU paid just $ 2.16 (£ 1.56 ) per dose . Tactics to Prevent Revolts - COVAX :
Long before the onset of this pandemic , Imperialist foundations like Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation started pumping billions for research on Covid like SARS viruses to prepare for any pandemic , to study how to profit from it and to come up with plans for thwarting public anger . In 2018 , they even conducted a mock drill on preparedness for a covid like pandemic .
Before the pandemic , five multinational pharmaceutical companies were responsible for 80 % of global vaccine sales . Countries like India which have manufacturing capabilities can use July - 2021
“ TRIPS ’ flexibilities ,” and invoke ‘ compulsory licencing ’ to bypass patents in the public interest ( though with the payment of royalties ).
But the retaliation threats of Imperialist countries thwarted them to do so . For e . g ., USA puts any country that dares to do so in a list in the ‘ Special 301 Report ’. USA uses this list to apply economic sanctions . In the 20 years after TRIPS India has invoked the ‘ Compulsory Licencing ’ clause only once , in 2012 for Cancer drug . From there upon it never dared to do so even in this severe pandemic when daily deaths stood at more than 4000 . India is not the only country , pharmaceutical giant Gilead threatening to sue the Ukrainian government .; Abbot withheld new medicines from Thailand for its attempts to produce two patented HIV drugs using compulsory licencing .
While WTO provided some flexibilities , Imperialist countries are bypassing them through aggressive provisions in their bilateral and regional trade agreements .
To prevent countries from invoking the ‘ compulsory licensing ’ or open sourcing patents , in the face of a global pandemic making evident their moral bankruptcy , the Imperialist came up with a new scheme .
Last year , in a closed process led by McKinsey & Company , a small group of organisations , including the World Bank , the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the WHO , shaped what is now one of the only pathways for many lowincome countries to access COVID- 19 vaccines , The COVID-19 Global Access initiative ( COVAX ). Instead of demanding Capitalist countries and their corporates to provide vaccines atleast at no profit prices , COVAX pools resources to preorder 2bn vaccines and aims to distribute them at the same rate to its over 180 participating countries . This ensures super profits for Corporates while watering anger from low-income countries .
Many actors involved in COVAX are concurrently protecting , expanding , and profiting from pharmaceutical patents . The EU , the UK and Australia , which are currently blocking a sweeping proposal in the World Trade Organisation ( WTO ) to waive COVID-19-related patents , are also prominent donors and supporters of COVAX , even citing the scheme in arguing against the need for a waiver .
The Capitalists who created the problem of inaccessibility of vaccines , the patents , are themselves providing the solution . But the solution is not removing patents , it is COVAX .
Because the problem creators are showing the supposed solution . They ensure that it never works .
Donald Trump refused to participate in Covax . Joe Biden joined it but has for the most part deprioritized the organization . Canada and EU too are behaving the same way . They are shedding crocodile tears that India is not delivering its targeted doses to COVAX .
COVAX , like the bullying Big Pharma is keeping the terms of its deals confidential . Refusing to disclose their negotiated prices allows pharmaceutical companies to maintain an upper hand over governments in bilateral negotiations , leading to disparities .
As a result of its conciliatory approach to pharmaceutical monopolies , COVAX fails to address vaccine scarcity . Vaccines in India :
Just as the imperialist powers have influenced all the policies in India , they are also controlling the Covid vaccine policy . Indian manufacturers offered vaccines at cheaper rates , the capitalists who acquired billions of doses of
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