The three reasons given by Alberto Fernández to justify his change of mind and sign the purchase of 20 million doses of Pfizer

Alberto Fernández has entered into simultaneous negotiations with Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, AstraZeneca-Oxford, Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer to purchase 26 million COVID-19 vaccines. It happened in the middle of 2020, and the president was very confident with the vaccines that would arrive from Moscow and Beijing, and with the local production of AstraZeneca that would be completed in a laboratory in Mexico City.

Unlike Putin, Xi and AstraZeneca, American pharmaceutical companies demanded a law a d hoc sign contracts for the supply of their own vaccines. The head of state accepted this legal obligation and sent a bill to Congress which ended in political catastrophe.

This government initiative was reformulated by the ruling bench in Congress and Pfizer – its main beneficiary – claimed it did not meet their expectations and demanded a new endorsement. Alberto Fernández rejected Pfizer’s proposals and said – both publicly and privately – that the foreign company was laying a legal diagonal that affected national sovereignty and thwarted Argentina’s penal system.

The president’s legal arguments mimicked a purported political advantage: in Balcarce 50 they calculated that Putin, Xi and AstraZeneca could meet their delivery commitments – around 50 million doses – and that there was no need to give in again to Pfizer and its allies in the pharmaceutical industry.

But Alberto Fernández’s expectations became uncertain and volatile when he confirmed that Xi could not ensure the constant supply of Sinopharm vaccines., AstraZeneca admitted that it had manufacturing issues in Mexico and Putin has indicated that Sputnik V will be late due to internal problems in the Russian Federation.

The most complex situation was capitalized on Putin’s broken promises and the political decision to base the national vaccination plan on Sputnik V. In this context, due to the breaches in the Kremlin, nearly seven million people are still awaiting dose 2 of Sputnik V. And more than 3 million vaccinated who have already expired the time allowed between the first dose and the second dose.

Alberto Fernández did not intend to repeat the same path. And he assumes that by 2022, he will need 26 million more vaccines to deal with successive waves of COVID-19. The head of state – despite the occasional smiles – is already suspicious of the promises of Xi, Putin and the local manufacturers of AstraZeneca.

And in this context, Alberto Fernández asked Vilma Ibarra to enter into a contract suitable for the legal claims of Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson. The Legal and Technical Secretariat complied with presidential instructions, and the legal rider demanded for months was transformed into a Decree of Necessity and Emergency (DNU) which was ratified by both parliamentary chambers. The DNU has examined the claim for compensation claimed by the North American laboratories and its possible criminal liability has been tempered.

In the last hours, Carla Vizzotti announced that she had already signed a contract with Pfizer for 20 million vaccines. This institutional decision of the Minister of Health is supported by obvious political and health reasons:

1. The Pfizer vaccine has two equal doses, and it can be adjusted within a reasonable time to the various variables, including the Delta. This situation does not exist for the Sputnik V vaccine.

2. Its price is lower compared to vaccines manufactured under license from Sinopharm and Sputnik V.

3. Pfizer is able to guarantee the delivery of its vaccines with more certainty than Putin and Xi.

Russia and China have deployed a powerful geopolitical lobby at Casa Rosada to impose their vaccines in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Alberto Fernández bought the production from Putin and Xi and delayed negotiations with Pfizer by relying on promises from Moscow and Beijing.

When the president verified that the Sputnik V and Sinopharm vaccines would not arrive on time, he accelerated negotiations with Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson. It was too late: millions of vaccinated people are waiting for the second dose of Sputnik V with the deadlines expired, And now it depends on a political pledge that Putin has already formalized more than once in the past six months.

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