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Scramble to buy COVID vaccine
Sri Lanka scrambled to secure COVID-19 vaccines, as India ordered a halt of major exports of the AstraZeneca jabs made by the Serum Institute this week.
An agreement is being finalised by Pfizer India and the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) to get 3 million Pfizer vaccine doses for Sri Lanka, the Sunday Times learns. The vaccine stock is expected to be delivered in the 2nd quarter of the year.
“The Heads of Terms (setting out the terms of the transaction) is being finalised by the Government and Pfizer,” confirmed Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hemas Holdings PLC Limited. Hemas is the local agent for Pfizer.
The Sunday Times understands that the Pfizer vaccine would be bought by Sri Lanka at the GAVI-guaranteed price but when asked, the local agent said it was a transaction between the Government and Pfizer and as such they were not privy to the commercial transaction.
[It is GAVI (the Vaccine Alliance); COVAX (the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access); CEPI (the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations); and WHO (the World Health Organisation) which are working with vaccine manufacturers to provide countries equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.]
Whether the SPC had approached the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca based in the United Kingdom (UK) to purchase that vaccine directly from them, the Hemas CEO said that AstraZeneca (UK) is yet to inform the local agent about such a transaction.
Several calls and messages from the Sunday Times not only to the Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals State Minister, Prof. Channa Jayasumana, and the SPC which heads the initiative to secure vaccines for the country – excluding those being sent by the global vaccine initiative COVAX – elicited no response.
This was as controversy gripped the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, a donation of which is expected in the country shortly. While the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) with several new members on its board granted a “waiver” to allow the import of the vaccine, the NMRA’s independent eight-member Panel of Experts on candidate vaccines categorically recommended that the vaccine should not be used until more information is made available and evaluated.
The Sunday Times also found that a decision on emergency-use listing expected from the WHO for Sinopharm initially in February, then early March or late March 2021, has now been put back to late April, according to the latest WHO regulatory update available on its website.
Meanwhile, with regard to COVAX vaccine supplies, a GAVI statement issued on Thursday stated that deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII) to lower-income economies participating in the COVAX Facility will face delays during March and April as the Government of India battles a new wave of COVID-19 infections. COVAX and the Government of India remain in discussions to ensure some supplies are completed during March and April.
Sri Lanka which was expecting vaccine doses for 20% of its eligible population from COVAX has so far received only 264,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s COVISHIELD manufactured by SII.
The GAVI statement adds: “To date, COVAX has been supplied with 28 million COVISHIELD doses and was expecting an additional 40 million doses to be available in March, and up to 50 million doses in April. COVAX has notified all affected economies of potential delays. SII has pledged that, alongside supplying India, it will prioritize the COVAX multilateral solution for equitable distribution.”
The WHO on Friday said there are many countries who invested in COVAX in good faith, but have been left frustrated because of the bilateral deals that have left COVAX short. WHO and our partners are continuing to work around the clock to find ways to increase production and secure doses.
“The WHO is also concerned about the potential for criminal groups to exploit the huge global unmet demand for vaccines. We urge all people not to buy vaccines outside government-run vaccination programmes. Any vaccine bought outside these programmes may be substandard or falsified, with the potential to cause serious harm,” warned Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.