@gavi's new fund for #COVID19 vax was launched yesterday with this $750 mil agreement (for 300 mil doses) with @AstraZeneca (AZ). Some points to consider THREAD: #GVS2020
-despite Gavi claiming that transparency would be a tenet of the new fund, there was no disclosure of any of the agreement terms gavi.org/sites/default/…
-it was a rushed deal to have something to announce @gavi's replenishment - makes one wonder if it was really necessary to give @AstraZeneca $$$ 750 MILLION $$$ in advance after all of the public funding they've already received
-despite disagreement from some orgs involved in the fund's design, Gavi took the risky and costly approach of giving $$ upfront to a big pharma company - there are a number of Qs this raises (what if AZ's product isn't successful? what if they can't produce the supply?)
-how did they come to the $750 mil pay out to AstraZeneca? $750 mil for 300 mil doses for the poorest countries of the world.
Con't -Recently the US gov paid $1.2 bil to AZ for 300 mil doses for the US. Isn't the Gavi price only ~37% cheaper than the US? Gavi typically boasts that it pays 'a fraction' of high income country prices. Why such a relatively high price? (gavi.org/news/media-roo…)
