Pharmaceutical companies accused of ‘profiteering’ from Covid pandemic

Despite urgent calls to ensure the equal distribution of Covid-19 vaccines last year, pharmaceutical companies monopolised technology, blocked and lobbied against the sharing of intellectual property, charged high prices for vaccines and prioritised supplies to wealthy countries, said Amnesty International today in a new assessment of the leading Covid-19 vaccine developers.

Ten billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines were produced last year, more than enough to reach the 40% target of global vaccination set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the end of 2021. Yet the new analysis, “Money calls the shots: Pharma’s response to the Covid-19 vaccines crisis” reveals that just over 4% of those living in low-income countries had been fully vaccinated by the end of last year.

Rajat Khosla, Amnesty International’s Senior Director of Research, Advocacy and Policy, said:

“These companies could have been the heroes of 2021. Instead, they turned their back on those who needed vaccines the most and just continued with business as usual, putting profits before people. If we want 2022 to be the last year of this pandemic, we need to shift course now to reach the 70% WHO-target by July of this year.

“Despite billions in public funding, these companies are continuing to put their own greed before their human rights responsibilities. Everyone deserves a fair shot at a vaccine and as we enter our third year of the pandemic, it’s time that everyone, living anywhere in this world, has immediate access.

“Investors have also played a huge role in this global crisis. Their lack of meaningful action shows that while Covid-19 unleashed unimaginable suffering on millions around the world, they thrived, but did nothing to ensure their investments did not result in human rights harm on account of the profit-driven approach taken by pharmaceutical companies.”

In 2021, Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna projected revenues of up to £40 billion, yet supplied less than 2% of their vaccines to low-income countries.

Chinese companies Sinovac and Sinopharm delivered just 0.5% and 1.5% respectively of their vaccines to low-income countries.

Johnson & Johnson’s and AstraZeneca’s records on distribution were better – with 50% of their stock reaching low and lower-middle-income countries (with many of these doses provided as “donations” from upper-income countries, not as part of sales agreements).

However, both companies still refuse to share their technology and intellectual property through World Health Organisation-coordinated initiatives and are now abandoning their not-for-profit pricing model.