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 By the end of December, Bolivia clinched its first major COVID-19
vaccine deal, with enough shots for some 20% of the population. The
first Sputnik V doses arrived in the country in late January, just
as virus cases were spiking.
“It was a really marathon task,” said Bolivian trade minister
Benjamin Blanco of the procurement quest, but Russia’s political
will made it possible. Western vaccine makers “told us developing
countries that we had to wait until June.” He didn’t name names.
Bolivia's reliance on Moscow underscores how governments across the
region have turned to Russia’s Sputnik V drug amid fears of being
left behind in the global scramble for vaccines. As many wealthier
developed nations have signed big deals with large drugmakers like
Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca PLC, countries in Latin America have
faced difficulties securing adequate vaccine supplies.
For Russia, acceptance in Latin America lends legitimacy to its
vaccine, which faced initial skepticism. It also provides Moscow an
opportunity to make in-roads in the resource rich region at a time
when COVID-19 vaccines are becoming a tool for soft power. Sputnik V
is named after the Soviet-era satellite that triggered the space
race, in a nod to the project’s geopolitical importance for Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
Latin America’s Russian gamble looks a stronger bet after scientists
said it was almost 92% effective in its first peer-reviewed study,
published in early February in international journal the Lancet.
Current and former officials from three countries in the region,
including Blanco, described to Reuters challenges in negotiating
with multinational drugmakers. Officials from two of the countries
described the comparative ease in dealing with Sputnik V's
marketeers, ranging from eagerness to engage to less onerous
contractual terms, and in some instances a more attractive price.
But it’s not without risk. It’s unclear how effective Sputnik is
against the new coronavirus variants, including one circulating
widely in Brazil. And Russia has already experienced production
delays domestically and overseas, including to Argentina, which in
December became the first Latin country to sign a Sputnik V supply
deal.
Sharon Castillo, a spokeswoman for U.S.-based Pfizer, said in
response to questions from Reuters that the company and its German
partner BioNTech SE are committed to working with governments and
others “to ensure equitable and affordable access to our COVID-19
vaccine for people around the world.” She added that Pfizer and
BioNTech currently have completed bilateral supply agreements with
eight countries in Latin America.
At least ten countries in the region have said they have signed
deals to receive AstraZeneca’s vaccine, which is developed with UK’s
University of Oxford.
Arce’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment. Bolivia has
this year signed deals with a supplier of AstraZeneca’s vaccine as
well as China’s Sinopharm and is procuring further doses via global
vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX. Russia’s trade envoy to Bolivia, Iakov
Fedorov, said the vaccine deal was “not so political” and the
Russian government was “always predisposed to support and help”
bring Bolivia together with Sputnik V’s marketers and manufacturers.
Moscow’s Gamaleya Research Institute developed the drug, which the
Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) markets overseas.
RDIF agreed to supply 5.2 million shots of Sputnik V to Bolivia,
enough of the two-shot vaccine for 2.6 million people. Bolivia has
said it has received 20,000 shots of the vaccine.
The Kremlin and RDIF didn’t respond to requests for comment
regarding Bolivia. Russia has said it is ramping up production hubs,
mostly outside of the country. On Friday, RDIF said it had struck a
deal with an Argentine company to produce Sputnik V locally.
On Jan. 19, Arce spoke with Putin. The two leaders discussed
reviving Russian investments in Bolivia to develop gas reserves,
rekindling a nuclear plant project and cooperating on lithium
mining, Blanco said.
Federov, the Russian trade envoy, said they discussed reactivating
ties and investments. Vaccine cooperation with Bolivia “can
contribute to bilateral and regional relations,” he added.
[to top of second column] |
 RDIF has announced deals in at
least six Latin American countries to supply
more than 60 million shots, according to a
Reuters tally of available data. Other countries
in the region have said they are looking at
Sputnik V. RDIF has said it has
deals to deliver doses to more than 500 million people this year.
Russia recently offered 300 million Sputnik V doses to Africa along
with a financing package for countries wanting to secure the shots.
'TOUGH' TALKS
Bolivia has recently experienced a deadly surge in COVID-19
infections, leaving corpses piling up amid overwhelmed funeral homes
and cemeteries. A country of about 11.5 million people, Bolivia has
reported more than 11,600 COVID-19 related deaths, according to a
Reuters tally. But Bolivia, one of Latin America’s
poorest nations, has struggled to secure bilateral deals for vaccine
supply. After Arce took office in early November, the socialist
Bolivian government entered into discussions to obtain AstraZeneca’s
vaccine. Blanco described those talks as “difficult” and “intense,”
though declined to give more details, citing a confidentiality
agreement. The talks were led by India’s Serum Institute, which is a
manufacturer of AstraZeneca’s vaccine. Bolivia in January struck a
deal with the Serum Institute for 5 million doses, which are not due
to arrive until April.
AstraZeneca said its role was to connect the Bolivian government
with the Serum Institute. Blanco said Bolivia wasn’t
able to negotiate with Pfizer because the country lacked
infrastructure to store the vaccines at the low temperatures
required.
 The minister added that Bolivia was seeking a small share of
Pfizer’s vaccine via global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX, which is
backed by the World Health Organization and involves various
suppliers. Arce’s government agreed in January to receive 5.1
million doses of a range of vaccines from COVAX; the first batch of
around 1 million doses the government said were due to arrive by the
end of February. Blanco said that even via COVAX, Bolivia had to
meet numerous requirements, including guaranteeing payment of
transportation and logistics costs.
Pfizer spokeswoman Castillo said the company pays for transport and
logistics costs from its plant to the recipient nation, which is
then responsible for such costs “once in-country.”
Officials from some countries, including Argentina and Peru, have
publicly complained that terms demanded by Western drugmakers were
too tough, including liability waivers and long confidentiality
clauses.
Two of the regional officials told Reuters about frustration among
countries in the region over delays in locking in deals with Johnson
& Johnson, which hasn’t announced any finalized bilateral deals in
the region. The U.S. drugmaker conducted trials in six Latin
American countries late last year for its single-shot vaccine, which
doesn’t require cold storage. J&J said it is “committed to enabling
equitable global access to the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine candidate on
a not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use, if approved for
use by health authorities.”
Blanco said key differences in dealing with Russia included its
offer to accept liability for any problems, unlike other drugmakers.
Pricing was another differentiator, said Blanco, with Russia
offering a single price of around $10 per jab. Pfizer is charging
some buyers, including in European Union and the United States,
around $19 per shot, as Reuters has previously reported. One of the
Latin American officials said AstraZeneca’s vaccine cost between
about $3 and $5 a dose.
Pfizer declined to confirm the cost but said lower income countries
would pay a not-for-profit price.
(Reporting by Daniel Ramos in La Paz, Aislinn Laing in Santiago, and
Cassandra Garrison in Mexico City.; Additional reporting by Marco
Aquino in Lima and Polina Ivanova in Moscow.; Writing by Aislinn
Laing and Adam Jourdan. Editing by Cassell Bryan-Low.)
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