AstraZeneca/EU contract
I just started to read it, not finished yet, so I will update this post a needed. Also, I look at it from a purely supply chain &#x2F; logistics erspective. I also asusme that the other contracts (Biontech&#x2F;Pfizer, Moderna, Jihnsson&amp;Johnsson,...) are similar.<p>So far, I found this:<p>- Paragraph 5.2: The delivery schedule in the main contract is quite short ( I assume based on quarters) and blacked out. I don&#x27;t like that lack of transparence.<p>- Paragraph 6.2: I read that paragraph concerning capacit limitations, that of any additional EU orders result in capacity shortfalls, AZ has to increase capacity. And in case AZ is not able to adhere to the schedule agreed in 5.2, AZ is not in breach of contract. If the Pfizer contract is the same, that would mean the EU really shot itself in the foot with the additional orders, that forced a temporary &#x2F; partial shitdown of Pfizers Belgian plant.<p>- 6.3: Regular reporting intevalls are not specified, neither is any appendix referenced. That could be an issue.<p>- 8.1, Delivery: Coordination of deliveries is supposed to happen between the central AZ rep and the reps o the EU member states. Again no details, no mention of working groups, no detailed time tables, eg AZ has to inform &quot;in good time&quot; before doses will be available. I&#x27;d say very hard o implement once deliveries are supposed to start, and a clear indication that nobody thought of how the whole purchasing and delivery to member state hubs is supposed to work in real life.<p>- 8.4 and 8.5: Now the contract specifies &quot;in good time&quot; to be 5 working days. Distribution is up to member states. And in case the hub cannot take the delivery within these 5 days, any storage is on the member state. The period behind this is blacked out. The focus here is purely cost, again I&#x27;d say the cintract is falling short on the logistcs side of things.<p>- 18.7, Force Majeur: Sure, pandemics are usually included as Force Majeur incidents. But really, for a COVID-19 vaccine as well? Come on. The means either the pandemic is delcared over (which it won&#x27;t be), or AZ has a constant option to just declare Force Majeur if they run into issues. Why not explicitly exclude the ongoing pandemic from being a Force Majeur event?<p>- Order Form (pages 35 through 38): This is honestly the first contract I saw in my whole life, that spends fou complete pages on cntractually specifying the purchase order. Honestly, I don&#x27;t see reason why.<p>- Delivery Schedule (page 40): Now we have a table with monthly quantities. All blacked out. Again, the contract references payment terms, but not a single word on what happens if AZ canno adhere to the schedule. Not good.<p>I have to say, from a supply chain perspective, this contract is dangerously lacking. Based on my experience with government sourcing, they tend to include everything in the cntract they think about, I assume nobody spared a thought at how the deliveries wil bemanaged,how the schedule will look like, or what will happen if there are delays. That almost borders negligence.<p>Again, asuming the contracts with the other suppliers are similar, I&#x27;m almost sure that there is no organization put in place on EU level, at the suppliers or member states to manage the actual deliveries. None. There is no word in that contract about thecoordination between local vaccination efforts and deliveries. I have the impression, that as with masks, the governments think that you sign a contract, place an order and then have  the goods are delivered without issues. It didn&#x27;t work out like that with masks, it won&#x27;t with vaccines.