South Africa
No-refund clauses in J&J and Pfizer #Vaccine agreements─── 05:25 Thu, 15 Apr 2021
South Africa has received a refund for the AstraZeneca vaccine bought from the Serum Institute in India but, that won't be the case if the J&J and Pfizer vaccines are not used.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said this is because of a no-refund clause.
The rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been halted after six women in the US developed blood clots after using it.
"With regards to the AstraZeneca refund, I can confirm in March we received the full AU$1 million doses which we sold to them. The amount paid was $5,2million," Mkhize said.
"This was the actual cost of the vaccine, minus the freight. Last week, we were then refunded by the Serum Institute of India for the 500,000 doses not delivered to the amount of $2,675 million. We are therefore happy we have avoided what could have been fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
"It is important to mention, that the J&J and Pfizer agreement have non-refundability clauses. The agreements specifically state the down payment will be made in advance by the department and shall not be refunded to us in any circumstances."
