Despite complaints and accusations, government continues to negotiate with Pfizer

La Casa Rosada is working on different options to unlock negotiations with Pfizer and thus achieve that millions of vaccines against Covid-19 from this laboratory arrive in Argentina, confirmed official and private sources involved in the negotiations for THE NATION.

Both the government and the lab say they are looking to come to an agreement, although they are not finally agreeing on some contract terms. Today, the biggest obstacle to the arrival of these vaccines is legal. Next to the president Alberto Fernandez They are assessing how to get around what they currently define as an “insurmountable legal hurdle”.

This obstacle comes from the trail, as rebuilt THE NATION, as local representatives of Pfizer and other laboratories have called for various conditions since mid-2020; among them, the extension of competence, a financial compensation and confidentiality. That is, the same ones that have been raised in Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, among other countries.

In his last public statements, President Fernández alluded to these “initial conditions” of Pfizer, which he described as “excessive” and considered that they placed it “in a situation of very violent demands and compromised the country ”, while specifying that the negotiation“ continues until today ”.

Over the weeks as he rebuilt THE NATION, several of these conditions were corrected, while within the government they debated the promotion of a decree of necessity and emergency (DNU), signed by the president, to close the last differences, but it was decided to send a bill to Congress.

The project, which was approved by the deputies and the Senate with the votes of the ruling party and the opposition, however included an exception to the compensation claimed by the laboratories. It was for the negligence hypothesis. And it is, today, a central obstacle in the negotiations.

“We see how we can ‘jump’ this legal hurdle, but negotiations are continuing, beyond the ‘noise’ that may be,” said one of the sources involved in the round trip between Rosada and the lab. .

Another obstacle between the government and Pfizer has already been left out, in principle. It was resolved by signing a bond or insurance policy in New York, an option that began to be analyzed in the last quarter of 2020 with the then Minister of Health, Ginés González García, then continued with his replacement, Carla Vizzotti, and the legal and technical secretary of the presidency, Vilma Ibarra.

The “rumors” – as one of the sources described – surrounding the negotiations include, but are not exhausted, in the latest public statements by the president of the Pro Patricia Bullrich, who accused the government of having tried to impose on Pfizer an “intermediary”, which it did not identify, as a condition of signing the contract.

“Not signing the contract is an act of corruption,” he said. “From there, they mounted the lie that Pfizer was asking for leonine terms, while selling to all of our neighbors on acceptable terms.

In the hours that followed, the president announced that he would take legal action against Bullrich, as did González García, who sent him a letter on Wednesday demanding that he step down within 48 hours. Otherwise, he has informed him, he will claim an indemnity which he will pay to the cooperator of the public hospital of his city, San Nicolás.

From Pfizer, meanwhile, they issued a brief statement with the approval of Buenos Aires, Brazil and New York: “Pfizer has at no time received requests for undue payments. On the other hand, the company does not have intermediaries, private distributors or representatives for the supply of the Covid-19 vaccine ”.

For Bullrich, “Pfizer’s statement denies nothing” of what she said. “Therefore, I reaffirm my statements,” he announced, while evaluating with his lawyers to file a criminal complaint in the federal courts of Comodoro Py to open an investigation into the negotiations between Pfizer and the government.

For its part, Pfizer has activated its “compliance” protocols, given that it is listed in the United States and runs the risk that the Securities Commission of that country (SEC, for its acronym in English) opens an investigation. For this reason, from Buenos Aires, they reported to the headquarters in New York.

Today, as the government gets it wrong with a “flood” of vaccines, as a close friend of the President said THE NATION, this should be achieved over the next few weeks which would calm the spirits, what is happening in Brazil could serve as a mirror to Argentina.

Before the parliamentary commission of inquiry, the CEO of Pfizer for Latin America, Carlos Murillo, testified that the government of Jaír Bolsonaro He ignored the vaccine offers offered by the laboratory, which reportedly signaled the arrival of 1.5 million vaccines in December 2020.

Murillo explained that Pfizer presented six proposals to the Brazilian executive between August 2020 and February of this year, with offers valid for a fortnight. But during this period, Brazil did not respond, as the Argentine government considered these same terms impractical, given< les principes qui devraient prévaloir dans toutes les actions de l'administration publique >>, González García reproached Pfizer in a letter of December 11, a copy of which you obtained THE NATION.

In the Brazilian case, Murillo explained that silence was the response they got. “Our offer of August 26, being binding, and being in this process (of negotiation) with all governments, was valid for 15 days (…) The government of Brazil did not reject it, but it did not not accepted either “. he explained. This was repeated in September, without receiving a response until November.

Pfizer’s CEO for Latin America also told Brazil’s Congress that the country’s health ministry considers the terms of the contract raised by the lab to be unfair. “I do not agree with the qualification of the clauses as leonines. In this pandemic, Pfizer has taken an unprecedented risk in an unprecedented situation that has forced everyone to collaborate in this process. That is why Pfizer demanded that all countries demand it from Brazil, ”he said.

Like 110 other countries – not including Argentina, where Congress and the judiciary have not promoted an investigation – Brazil finally struck a deal with Pfizer in March this year. A month later, he began to receive vaccines.

Conocé The Trust Project