Time to negotiate. The European Commission (EC) will renegotiate contracts with pharmaceutical companies that have been producing vaccines against Covid-19. Poland since last year was the first EU country to try to renegotiate with Pfizer because its population does not need a greater demand for doses against Covid-19 and the little need to pay for deliveries.
The EC approved in March that Poland can negotiate on its own with the pharmaceutical. From the Polish Ministry of Health, they explained that “we participate in vaccine contracts as their part, like other member states and they have the right to negotiate with the producer (of vaccines) on the basis of the principle of freedom of contract.”
Various member countries have been lobbying the EC to also be able to renegotiate their contracts with pharmaceutical companies. Italy, for example, should receive 61.1 million doses under the EU deal. With lower acceptance among Italians, unused doses are likely to be 173 million doses, including those currently in stock. All this is likely to cost the country 3 billion euros.
Spain has destroyed more than six million vaccines against Covid-19 due to the expiration of the doses
The Italian Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, stresses that “we asked the Commission to renegotiate the contracts with the providers of vaccines against Covid-19; to avoid repeating mistakes and wasting billions of public money.”
Spain has destroyed more than six million doses due to expiration issues. “Covid-19 vaccines have saved millions of lives and have helped mitigate the impact of the pandemic on our health systems and our economies; they remain our best insurance policy in case new variants emerge and to protect our vulnerable citizens”, explained the European Union Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides.
France has so far been the only country that has supported the EC and continue with the vaccine procurement system. From the French Ministry of Health they mention that “we support the work of the European Commission in the context of these negotiations, in which France is an interested party. The country supports the joint procurement of vaccines, which has been our line from the beginning.”
