How Big Pharma kept COVID-19 vaccine negotiations in South Africa secret

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, multinational drug companies sought to dictate the terms on which the South African government could negotiate for access to COVID-19 vaccines, according to newly released confidential contracts and documents.

That includes revelations that Moderna would not even allow the government to reveal that discussions were underway and Pfizer’s apparent rejection of any effort by South African officials to hold the drugmaker accountable for the late or incomplete delivery of doses or to include flexibilities allowing the government to be more transparent about the agreements the two sides ultimately reached.

“The concessions these companies demanded undermined our democracy,” Fatima Hassan, the founder and director of the Health Justice Initiative, said on a conference call this week. She said the secrecy surrounding the negotiations and the agreements prevented parliament or any government watchdogs from playing an oversight role.