Officers in some EU states say the bloc is forcing them to foot the invoice for hundreds of thousands of unused vaccine doses
Pfizer has provided to increase its Covid-19 vaccine contract with the European Union whereas scaling again deliveries, however nonetheless expects the bloc to pay billions of euros for unused doses amid a significant provide glut in some international locations, the Monetary Occasions reported. The provide prompted outrage from a handful of member states, who say the deal would serve the pursuits of Large Pharma over their very own residents.
The contract extension would push the vaccine settlement out to 2026, with a proposed 40% discount within the variety of doses equipped in addition to delays to deliveries, the Occasions reported on Tuesday, citing two unnamed officers.
Nonetheless, regardless of the urged cuts, the US pharma big nonetheless insists that it’s paid for the complete variety of doses initially agreed upon, lots of which might by no means be produced below the brand new phrases.
The amendments to the deal – the complete textual content of which has by no means been made public – had been offered by European well being commissioner Stella Kyriakides throughout a closed-door assembly in Brussels on Tuesday, however confronted objections from some EU members.
In a joint assertion issued following the assembly, officers from Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania and Poland mentioned they might not signal the settlement with the proposed modifications, as they “don’t current a last and truthful resolution to the issues of the Covid-19 vaccine surplus and don’t meet the wants of the healthcare methods, the wants of residents and the monetary pursuits of the member states.”
Polish Well being Minister Adam Niedzielski argued that the present Pfizer proposal would favor Large Pharma, and has referred to as for the secretive contract to be printed, questioning the function European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen performed within the negotiations for the huge vaccine deal.
An EU watchdog launched a probe into the negotiation and procurement course of late final yr, after von der Leyen’s workplace failed to provide private textual content messages despatched to Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla throughout the talks for practically 2 billion vaccine doses, prompting accusations of corruption.
The 27-member bloc initially signed a joint contract with Pfizer in 2020, however because the pandemic receded, demand for vaccines has steadily dropped, leaving an overabundance throughout the continent. Some international locations have been compelled to throw away vaccines, with Germany alone tossing out some 36.6 million doses, based on public broadcaster BR24, whereas others are sitting on massive shares of unused photographs, corresponding to Austria, which has reported round 17.5 million in its provide.
Nonetheless, Czech Well being Minister Vlastimil Valek pushed again on the criticisms, arguing that the “majority of nations” had agreed to the deal and that “the contract is just not unhealthy.” He added that the big inventory of doses wouldn’t pose an issue as “Covid remains to be right here” and “It will likely be essential to repeat vaccination annually for a specific group of sufferers.”
