Brussels, 12 April (beraking latest news Health) – The European Commission is negotiating a maxi contract with Pfizer / BioNTech to provide the EU with the doses of anti-Covid vaccines it will need in the coming years, in the order of “almost 2 billion” doses. This was explained by the spokesman of the Health Commission Stefan de Keersmaecker, confirming in part, and in part simply not denying, the statements of the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, who yesterday also revealed the price per dose that the EU is dealing with, 19 , 5 euros per dose.
“We are not talking about the prices of potential contracts – says de Keersmaecker, confirming the line of secrecy on prices, of which we have news only thanks to political sources – but the objective behind the initiative is that as the EU we must be ready for the next phases of the pandemic, for 2022 and beyond “.
“We must be ready for the challenges we face – he continues – we will need a reminder; we must be ready to face the variants, those that are circulating now and those in the future. And we will have to vaccinate, at a certain moment, even children and adolescents” .
“We have determined that around 2 billion doses of vaccines will be needed to address these challenges and on that basis we have launched a contract, after discussions with Member States, who have given us support,” concludes de Keersmacker. Borissov, reports Euractiv.bg, said that “Pfizer was at 12 euros before, then it became 15.50 euros. Now contracts for 900 million doses are signed (plus an option for another 900 million, according to rumors reported by Reuters, for 2022-23, ed) at a price of 19.50 euros per dose “.
Regarding the difference in the price of the vaccine compared to the 12 euros per dose initially dealt with by the EU, the chief spokesman Eric Mamer recalled that in the first case it was an advance purchase agreement, while in this case it is a normal contract of purchase. For Mamer, it would be necessary to be “cautious” in comparing the two agreements sic et simpliciter, given their different nature (in the first case the contract concerned vaccines that did not yet exist, in the second vaccines approved and available on the market). The Commission has never confirmed the prices of doses negotiated by the EU with suppliers.
But, according to the data tweeted last December by the Belgian budget secretary Eva de Bleeker, during a squabble via social media with the rivals of the Flemish N-Va, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine costs the EU 12 euros per dose, that of Moderna $ 18 a dose. The cheapest is that of AstraZeneca (1.78 euros per dose, but the dg Sandra Gallina said in the hearing in Envi that the real price is a little higher), for J&J 8.5 dollars per dose, for Sanofi / Gsk 7.56 euros per dose, for CureVac 10 euros per dose.