Pfizer, whose global reputation as one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies has been bolstered by its development of a COVID-19 vaccine, has a record of exerting undue influence on low- and middle-income nations and international organizations to pursue its intellectual property rights and financial interests at the expense of global efforts to ensure that poor countries are able to access the company’s vaccine, according to independent news reports from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and In These Times.
In February 2021, Madlen Davies, Rosa Furneaux, Iván Ruiz, and Jill Langlois of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) reported that Pfizer has essentially held Latin American governments to ransom for access to its lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine. In negotiations with Argentina and Brazil, Pfizer demanded that the nations offer sovereign assets—such as federal bank reserves, military bases, and embassy buildings—as collateral for any liability resulting from future legal cases. Officials from several Latin American countries spoke with the BIJ on condition of anonymity, due to confidentiality agreements that Pfizer has required. One national official who
— source projectcensored.org | Nov 9, 2021