[ad_1]
The UK has ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, enough for 50 million people.
VINCENZO PINTO / AFP via Getty Images
- Pfizer has reportedly offered South Africa its coronavirus vaccine at $ 10 per dose.
- That figure is not confirmed, but it would represent a discount of more than 30% on what the European Union is paying for the same.
- Still, going for the AstraZeneca alternatives, and most likely Covaxin from India, would be much cheaper, if SA chooses.
- For more information, visit www.BusinessInsider.co.za.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its partner BioNTech have offered South Africa a price of $ 10 per dose for its coronavirus vaccine, Bloomberg reported Monday, so that would be roughly R300 per person fully vaccinated with the two recommended doses.
A person familiar with the conversations said the price had been determined based on SA’s status as a middle-income nation, Bloomberg’s Antony Sguazzin wrote, with the fact that the vaccine is being tested in South Africa was also taken into account.
The exact prices of various vaccines are a closely guarded secret, as many nations engage in frenzied multi-billion dollar negotiations with limited-stock suppliers. But at $ 10, Pfizer’s offer would amount to a discount of just over 30% on the price paid by the European Union, as Belgium’s budget chief revealed in an apparent mistake in mid-December.
See also | Countries with better vaccination plans than South Africa now include Morocco, Panama and Lebanon
Pfizer’s reported offer, the equivalent of R150 per dose, would be slightly cheaper than the filtered price the EU is paying for Germany’s CureVac vaccine, at € 10.00 or roughly R180.
But Pfizer’s purported offering would still be more expensive than some of its main corporate competitors, and far more expensive than at least one and possibly up to four alternatives from different parts of the world.
According to the Belgian price leak, the EU will pay the equivalent of about R135 for Sanofi / GSK vaccines and R125 for Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
The EU will pay just R32 for each dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine that has just started rolling out in the UK.
See also | UK Says It Will Deliver ‘Tens of Millions’ of AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 Hits by End of March – Here’s How
Prices for other vaccines have not been leaked with similar details from similarly high-ranking sources, but India’s Bharat Biotech is expected to offer its Covaxin for about R70 per dose, while three vaccines are being developed in China, one by Sinovac and two for Sinopharm. , they are also expected to be much cheaper than the early versions from western pharmaceutical companies.
South Africa has declined to provide details of its vaccine procurement talks, and the government has not made clear exactly how it will finance the purchases beyond the promise of leveraging the resources of medical schemes.
Neither individual recipients nor countries still negotiating supplies will likely have the option of choosing the vaccine they will receive, experts warned, and demand for vaccines is expected to easily outstrip supply for another two years or more.
Receive a daily news update on your cell phone. Or receive the best of our site by email
Go to the Business Insider home page for more stories.
[ad_2]
