At the request of Eastern European countries, the European Commission and Pfizer have renegotiated a contract for COVID-19 vaccine doses, under which the European Union will scale back purchases by about a third.
The revised contract seeks to address concerns about what some Member States regard as an unjustifiably high price paid for unneeded shots and brings renewed attention to the original costs and a continuing lack of openness about such issues.
The Financial Times noted that the most recent proposals include a new provision for Member States to still pay half price, about €10, for each dose cancelled and that deliveries should total 70 million shots a year until 2026.
The demand for vaccines has been declining as governments continue to make use of existing supplies and fulfil contractual obligations. Additionally, there has been a fall in the number of people opting for annual booster shots.
After months of discussions, 24 Member States have officially endorsed the revised contract. However, Poland and Hungary do not support the agreement. Romania, on the other hand, is expected to sign up next week.
The dissenting parties’ reservations include what they see as added pressure on already limited healthcare resources, calling the push to adhere to the vaccine programme as potentially impractical, especially given the apparent decline in the impact of Covid-19 generally.
However, details of the original contracts remain secret. The President of the EC, Ursula von der Leyen, has refused to release what are believed to be text messages relating to tackling the pandemic with Pfizer CEO, Albert Bourla, in the run-up to what has been the EU’s biggest vaccine procurement contract ever.
According to news organisation NPR.org, in 2021 the EC bought 1.8 billion vaccine doses from BioNTech/Pfizer, made up of a guaranteed 900 million doses with an option for 900 million more. The producers of the vaccine raised the price from €15,50 per shot to €19,50.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) is investigating that deal but remains tight-lipped about details of the probe.
BioNTech is a German biotechnology company that was little known before it hooked up with US giant Pfizer in early 2020 to jointly develop the Covid vaccine, sold under the brand name Comirnaty.
