Yes, this is at the absolute heart of it. It’s a tragedy now but it is also so potentially damaging for the future, as we’ve both previously alluded to.
Who in their right mind will now think to adopt the same publicly-spirited endeavour as AstraZeneca in the future? There are two different aspects, one more cynical than the other, but both equally damaging:
The opportunism of politicians (of all creeds, nationalities and interests) to blame someone else for any perceived policy failure. And the EU’s vaccine procurement is a perceived policy failure because it has been a shambles compared with the US and, most hurtful of all, the UK (due to the temporal if not causal connection to Brexit).
The unseemly speed with which politicians in the EU (whether those be within EU institutions itself or leading policitians in EU countries) denigrated first AstraZeneca and then its vaccine when in reality it was the EU procurement scheme that had failed was opportunistic and mendacious. Almost every single statement about AstraZeneca or its vaccine since 22 January (when it advised the EU it was going to be short on its estimated number of doses) has been tendentious.
The fact that it is non-profit means that its success is directly damaging to companies otherwise incorporating a profit in their costing. For every AZ dose administered a competitor doesn’t profit. Obviously this applies in any business but here the two most widely available vaccines are Pfizer and AZ. Moderna is coming hard up the rails. Poorer countries obviously want the AZ vaccine but if that’s not coming on board in the numbers hoped for or if it isn’t being taken up (for some reason, ahem) then they’ve got no choice but to go for Pfizer (and latterly Moderna). Or they go for Sputnik (as some of the eastern European countries have done).
This is an unhealthy cocktail. Political interests. National interests. Corporate Interests. Shareholder interests.
A situation exists where it is in the overwhelming interests of the countries most responsible for the development, manufacture, production and sale of coronavirus vaccines for AstraZeneca to fail, whereas it is in the overwhelming interests of every other country for it to succeed.
Something must be done about this. AZ stepped up to the plate only to have been absolutely battered. This will have huge ramifications for the rest of the world, not only now in fighting this pandemic, but in tackling future pandemics where humanity needs to come before ego and profits.
From a UK POV perhaps however the people of the EU won’t see it like that and that’s what counts!
It will damage AZ big time in the long run and they deserve it.
Question at cost means what?
Considering Sanofi GSK initial contracts were at under 2 euros the dose.
If I were the UK Government right now, I’d be making it very clear that choosing to operate in the UK comes with a cast iron guarantee that we will never prevent you from meeting your contractual obligations to your customers in the way the EU has with AZ.
As for Sanofi/GSK - great. Where’s their vaccine? I haven’t heard any criticism of them so it must be doing great.
Exactly so, so it should stay in its lane. It’s acting like it’s the customer, producer, contract arbitrator, benevolent supplier and authoritarian overlord as to who deserves what vaccine and when, all in one. In reality, it is just the customer.
Are you sure on the pricing ? I have seen reported very different numbers.
These are the numbers Belgium’s budget state secretary, Eva De Bleeker, posted:
AstraZeneca €1.78 ($2.18) per dose.
Johnson & Johnson’s €5.9 ($8.50) per dose (only 1 jab needed) equivalent to €2.95 ($3.61)
Sanofi/GSK’s €7.56 ($9.26) per dose.
Curevac €10 ($12.25) per dose
Pfizer/BioNTech €12 ($14.70) per dose
Moderna €14.70 ($18) per dose
The price hasn’t been fixed yet since the stopping their initial trials all they are guaranteeing now is less than 10 euros even if that’s for a full course or 1 dose isn’t knwn yet. Their initial estimated cost was under 3 euros.
Fascinating. Totally irrelevant to the situation with AstraZeneca then. You know, the company that has actually produced a vaccine and is providing it at cost.
Why do you say that this company deserves to suffer significant long term damage?
Ok I am sorry but I know it is not like this with the majority but I hear so many stories about people from 3 countries from my friends who operate pubs and bars in countries like Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam and they all tell me the same thing that there are quite a number of people from these 3 places who they observed are pretty decent when sober but once they have plenty of alcohol, they become monsters, they fight lousily, they abuse the staff and make a fool of themselves… and yes the English is one of those 3 with Australians and South Koreans being listed by them…
Just a bit of push and shove to have a piss against a tree?
The article doesn’t actually mention any fighting that’s just the title.
Still mad in times of pandemic!
