Vaccine Contracts in the Context of Pandemics and Epidemics

Ana Santos Rutschman (Villanova University), Vaccine Contracts in the Context of Pandemics and Epidemics, N.Y.U. J. Int'l L. & Pol. (Forthcoming):

This symposium essay explores the architecture of vaccine contracts, as well as the allocation of resulting vaccines in preparation for, and in response to, pandemics and large-scale epidemics. Drawing on contracts predominantly related to COVID-19 vaccines collected through publicly available databases, the work begins by providing an overview between the relationships between the parties entering into these agreements; the bargaining processes adopted and their timeline relative to market demand for vaccines; and the substantive obligations imposed by these contracts.

The essay then briefly considers the effects of this contractual architecture on the manufacturing and distribution of vaccines across the globe, highlighting allocative disparities in access to vaccines between populations in the Global North and those in the Global South.