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Pfizer is holding Brazil 'to ransom' over vaccine contract: Reports

Pfizer is holding Brazil 'to ransom' over vaccine contract: Reports

Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine

In a shocking revelation, Pfizer has been accused of holding Brazil "to ransom" and bullying the government over demands to protect itself from any possible lawsuits.

As per reports, Brazil government signed a $1 billion (£700m) deal with Pfizer in which the government signed "a liability waiver be signed for any possible side-effects of the vaccine, exempting Pfizer from any civil liability for serious side-effects arising from the use of the vaccine, indefinitely."

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As per the signed contract, Brazil cannot hold Pfizer liable for any serious or non-serious side-effects caused by their vaccine.The pharmaceutical company has successfully shielded itself from any civil liability in such cases, and that too, indefinitely.

"Purchaser hereby agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmlessPfizer, BioNTech, [and] each of their affiliates … from and against any and all suits, claims, actions, demands, losses, damages, liabilities, settlements, penalties, fines, costs and expenses … caused by, arising out of, relating to, or resulting from the vaccine," the contract states.

An additional condition of the contract is that the Brazil government is not allowed to use Pfizer’s "name, trade name, service marks, trademarks, trade dress or logos" in any of the official press releases or even for advertising purposes, without taking prior consent from the company for every situation.

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Reports also suggest that Brazil procured cheaper jabs than what the EU obtained from Pfizer — nearly $10 per dose.

The contract came to light after it was leaked on the health ministry’s website, but was immediately removed from the portal. While the authorities believed that the posting of contract had gone unnoticed by western countries, a French lawyer and writer Juan Branco caught sight of it and raised the issue soon after. He posted the contract on Twitter and questioned the legitimacy of profits of Pfizer in comparison to its assumed production cost.

"This debate can't happen if the public and the citizens are kept out of the loop,"Branco said.