US VACCINE manufacturer Pfizer has been accused of “bullying” Latin American countries with demands for assets – including military bases and embassies – as collateral in vaccine access talks.

A study by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) revealed that stringent demands by Pfizer, apparently as a guarantee against any future legal action, had led to a three-month delay in striking a vaccine deal for one Latin American country — potentially equating to thousands of additional deaths.

The country in question could not be named as it signed a confidentiality agreement with Pfizer on completion of the deal. But an official told the BIJ that it felt like it was being “held to ransom” in talks.

Questions have also been raised over demands made of Argentina and Brazil as they sought vaccine access, which reportedly included putting up state assets as collateral.

Pfizer said it was “committed to supporting efforts aimed at providing developing countries with the same access to vaccines as the rest of the world.”

The scandal is the latest example of “vaccine apartheid,” which has seen rich countries buy up available doses while the Third World struggles.

AstraZeneca, which holds rights to the Oxford vaccine, has been slammed for charging African countries much higher sums per dose than their richer counterparts. 

Last month it was revealed that Uganda was paying $7 (£5.07) and South Africa $5.25 (£3.80) per dose, when the EU paid just $2.16 (£1.56) per dose.

Oxford University initially announced that its vaccine would be open-license, meaning it would share it with all drugmakers to allow maximum global production. But in May last year it quietly signed an exclusive rights deal with AstraZeneca instead, reportedly under pressure from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a major funder of Oxford’s medical research.

Difficulty in obtaining vaccines produced by Western firms has led even European countries to look elsewhere, with Hungary authorising use of China’s Sinopharm vaccine despite it not having yet received EU approval. This week San Marino announced it was beginning a vaccination drive with the Russia-developed Sputnik V because of problems of obtaining EU-approved vaccines from Italy, despite the tiny state being surrounded by Italy.