Well done AstraZeneca. More focussed on humanity than on profit. Can't say that of Pfizer. AZ are supplying the world with their vaccine at cost-price. A significant amount of the product is being made in India and a large part of that production destined for COVAX use. The EU meanwhile are erroneously slating the AZ product whilst threatening to withold exports of the product made within the EU. They are stockpiling millions of these doses needed elsewhere in the world. I worry that with AZ's cost-price initiative depressing their share price somewhat and Pfizer's rapacious profit focus causing their share price to rise we may again see a takeover bid by Pfizer of AZ. Back in 2014/2015 Pfizer aimed to sidestep the high US tax rate by effectively moving to Europe. Trump solved that for them. Biden however may cause that need to return. The Useful Idiots in the EU hardly help the situation by their flip-flop decisions on AZ efficacy and (unfounded) blood-clot worries. But, the outcome for EU pharma companies will not be hindered by the removal of AZ as a large player on Europe's doorstep.
Countries sharing their vaccine supply
This week America has announced it's donating 60 million doses of its AstraZeneca vaccine supply – which has not yet been approved in the US – to other countries. This comes after it sent four million doses to neighbours Canada and Mexico in March. While President Joe Biden hasn't specified where these 60 million doses are going to be sent, it is likely that India, which is experiencing a severe second wave, is set to benefit.
America's announcement comes one month after the alliance it holds with Japan, India and Australia, known as the Quad, promised to supply a billion vaccine doses to Asia by the end of 2022.
Many countries have acknowledged the importance of donating vaccine doses in the global fight against COVID-19. In fact, the World Health Organization's COVAX initiative has been created to try to make sure that vaccines are being distributed fairly among rich and poor countries. COVAX wants to distribute two billion vaccine doses within a year, but its creation hasn't eliminated inequalities in vaccine access and some countries have bought more doses that others. Click or scroll through to find out which 30 nations and groups that have bought the most vaccine doses so far, based on the latest data collated by Duke University's Global Health Innovation Center for its Launch & Scale Speedometer, as of 23 April 2021.
All dollar amounts in US dollars unless otherwise stated.
lovemoney staff
28 April 2021
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02 April 2021