memorandum of agreement covid vaccinations

Summary

The request sought a copy of the memorandum of agreement between the Crown Dependencies regarding the supply of COVID-19 vaccinations, and the Department of Health and Social Care disclosed the full document containing terms on ownership, risk, and compliance.

Key Facts

• Ownership of vaccines passes from the Supplier to BEIS, then to UKHSA, and finally to the Crown Dependency upon receipt by authorized personnel.
• Risk of loss or damage transfers to the Crown Dependency upon receipt, after which BEIS and UKHSA are not compelled to provide replacements.
• Crown Dependencies are prohibited from reselling, donating, or supplying vaccines to third parties without prior written consent from BEIS.
• Participants must cooperate in good faith and respond to reasonable data requests from BEIS within 24 hours.
• The agreement acknowledges duties under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and equivalent legislation in Crown Dependencies.

Data Disclosed

• 2022-08-22
• 2022-09-16
• 7 pages
• 2 documents
• 24 hours
• Freedom of Information Act 2000
• Environmental Information Regulations 2004

Original Request

"Please can you provide me with a copy of the 'memorandum of agreement between the crown dependencies' for the supply of covid vaccinations"

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

OFFICIAL - SENSITIVE - COMMERCIAL

Title • Ownership will pass from Supplier to BEIS upon acceptance of the vaccines by UKHSA as the duly authorised agent of BEIS. Once the agent of BEIS has completed its acceptance of the vaccines then ownership will pass to UKHSA. Ownership will pass from UKHSA to the Crown Dependency upon receipt of the vaccines by Crown Dependency by personnel authorised by the Crown Dependency having the requisite expertise and training to enable proper handling of the vaccines in a safe and lawful manner. • The participants will cooperate in any reverse transfer of title in the vaccines to BEIS in the event that this may be required in order for BEIS to enforce its right under any Contract. Risk • In this section, the word "risk" means the risk of loss, damage or deterioration of the vaccine (for example as a result of handling or storage so as to render it unable to be used safely) but excludes product liability risk or other risks arising from the manufacture of the vaccines.
• Risk in each batch of vaccines made available under this MoU will pass from Supplier to BEIS upon acceptance of the vaccines by UKHSA as the duly authorised agent of BEIS and then transfer to UKHSA until receipt of the vaccines by the Crown Dependency by personnel authorised by the Crown Dependency having the requisite expertise and training to enable proper handling of the vaccines in a safe and lawful manner. In the event of loss of, damage or deterioration to the vaccines whilst risk is held by the Crown Dependency, then neither BEIS nor UKHSA would be compelled to provide any replacement supplies of the vaccine. Quality and Compliance • The handling and use of the vaccines shall comply with applicable storage, transport and product acceptance requirements as set out in or cross-referred to in the Appendices to this MoU and/or otherwise communicated by BEIS. • The Crown Dependency has confirmed in writing that handling and use of the vaccines will be in accordance with product authorisation and instructions of The United Kingdom Government and a copy of such letter is attached at part 2 of Appendix 2, in response to the request for such confirmation made in the letter from DHSC attached as part 1 of Appendix 2.
• The Crown Dependency will not resell, donate or otherwise supply any of the vaccines to any other country or third party without the prior written consent of BEIS.
• The participants will cooperate and act in good faith in the sharing of information as may be required including (without limitation) in order to: o address any regulatory requirements, including addressing any requests for information by the MHRA or other regulatory authorities; and o assist BEIS in its role and responsibilities as manager of each Contract (including by promptly reporting any issues relating to quality, safety or performance of the vaccines or any Supplier).
Cooperation Under this MoU each participant will cooperate and act in good faith to (a) achieve the efficient distribution of vaccine in accordance with the provisions of this MoU, the vaccine flow described at each Appendix to this MoU and any applicable laws and regulatory requirements (including maintenance and recordal of compliance with any cold chain requirements), and (b) assist BEIS as required for the efficient management and enforcement of each Contract. To this end each OFFICIAL - SENSITIVE - COMMERCIAL

participant will use all reasonable endeavours to respond to all reasonable requests for data and information from BEIS within 24 hours. In particular, each participant will provide to BEIS any information, in a timely manner, as is necessary for BEIS to meet its reporting requirements to each Supplier as made known by BEIS to the other participants.

Confidentiality • In respect of any confidential information it may receive directly or indirectly from another participant (“Discloser”) each participant will keep secret and strictly confidential and will not disclose any such confidential information to any third party without the Discloser’s prior written consent (save where it is required to do so by judicial, administrative, governmental or regulatory process), and will use such confidential information only for the purpose of this MoU. For the avoidance of doubt, the contents of any Contract (whether in redacted or unredacted form) and the names and contact details of the representatives of each participant set out in the Governance paragraph below are decided to be confidential information. • The participants acknowledge their respective duties under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”), Codes of Practice on Access to Government Information, on the Discharge of Public Authorities’ Functions or on the Management of Records (“Codes of Practice”) or the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (“Environmental Regulations”) (or, in respect of the Crown Dependency, equivalent or comparable legislation to the FOIA, Codes of Practice and Environmental Regulations), and will give each other all reasonable assistance and cooperation as appropriate or necessary to enable compliance with those duties. However, where a participant receives a request for information under the FOIA, Codes of Practice and Environmental Regulations (or equivalent or comparable legislation in respect of the Crown Dependency) it will liaise with the other participants as to the contents of any response before a response to a request is issued.

Governance • The participants acknowledge that the activities under this MoU (and any related matters, including as set out in the letters appended to this MoU) will be subject to the joint governance forum for the UK vaccines programme (the "Deployment Board"). • In the event of any dispute in relation to this MoU and the activities described herein the participants will seek to discuss and resolve such disputes acting in good faith. In the event that such good faith discussions do not resolve the dispute within a reasonable timeframe then it will be escalated to the Deployment Board for resolution. The Crown Dependency acknowledges that it is not directly subject to the Deployment Board but has decided that any disputes will be escalated to the Deployment Board notwithstanding.
• BEIS is the ultimate contract holder for each Contract (unless otherwise stated in the relevant Appendix), and will manage each such Contract with the relevant Supplier. • Where any provision of this MoU relates to the provision of information between the participants the representatives of each participant for the purposes of such provision of information will be: o

o

Interim Chief Executive: Stuart Quayle Freedom of Information Team First Floor Belgravia House Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1AE

Our ref: 2594493 16 September 2022

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 22 August 2022 and which states:

""Please can you provide me with a copy of the 'memorandum of agreement between the crown dependencies' for the supply of covid vaccinations""

Our response to your request is as follows: I have enclosed copies of the information that is being released to you.

Please quote the reference number 2594493 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another

form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.