Brussels, 23 March (beraking latest news Health) – The real “problem” regarding the distribution of doses of anti-Covid vaccines among the Member States of the European Union was the fact that, when the Commission negotiated advance purchase contracts with the companies, many member countries tended to buy only a part of the doses they were entitled to, leaving the rest unopted. Placing those unsold doses was “a problem”. And we should “be grateful” to those countries that have decided to “absorb” the unopened by buying it, which has allowed the EU to close contracts with pharmaceutical companies.
To explain the dynamics that led to a sometimes unequal distribution of doses of anti-Covid vaccines among the various EU countries is Sandra Gallina, Director General of Health of the European Commission, in a hearing before the Budgetary Control Committee of the European Parliament, to Brussels. Gallina does not mention names, but from what he says it is clear that, when Germany bought an additional 30 million doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, it did not at all conclude the deal outside the EU framework, as they continue to erroneously say. . On the contrary, Berlin bought doses left unexercised by other countries, thus allowing the Commission to close the contract with such a number of doses as to be able to obtain favorable conditions, to the advantage of all.
“The process is very simple – says Gallina – we have had negotiations with the Member States and the steering committee which has always directed, that is, it has always decided, even for very specific elements of the contracts, where the Commission and the negotiating group had to go. , there was a constant follow-up and debriefing. When the contract was concluded – he continues – it was presented in great detail to all Member States, who had 5 days to decide whether or not to join the contract, once the Commission had made the decision in college to proceed with that contract. These 5 days are very important, because they are the days when Member States decide whether they want to join. And I am very proud to say that all Member States have been in all vaccines, which I think is a great result “.
However, Gallina continues, “we have to go into the period in which the contracts were closed: at the time we did not have any vaccine that really existed. Now it is easy to see countries that buy vaccines, but any third country that buys vaccines today stipulates a normal purchase agreement. But what we did last year – he remembers – were Advanced Purchase Agreements, which means we bought things that didn’t exist. And here comes the real cracks: to conclude the contract, we needed a certain number of doses, because it is clear that without a certain number of doses we were not of interest to the pharmaceutical companies. So we had to conclude contracts for 200, 300 or 400 million doses. What is important is that, in order to conclude that contract, we had to be sure that the doses would be bought by the Member States. And here is the problem. “
“At the beginning, the Member States, who are the real owners of this process – Gallina reconstructs – had to decide first of all whether they joined or not. And then, collectively, they had to decide if a Member State was only there with the pro-rata quota. (based on the population, ed), so it would have been necessary for the country to keep all the doses, or if it could stay inside with less doses. I must say – notes the DG – that last year the trend for many Member States was of not to stay in the contract for the entire amount due, but to have fewer doses. So we must be grateful to those countries that have decided to absorb these doses, because they have allowed us to conclude contracts for the total amount of doses “.
“Even if the Member States have decided among themselves, and I want to emphasize that it is a process that took place with great transparency between the States, it took a month or more – reports Gallina – and for one of the vaccines it took more than 2 months In this distribution process, the problem was who was willing to buy the doses “left unopted by other countries.” “And that number – continues the DG – was included in the Order Form, which is a form attached to the advance purchase contract, and the companies look to that form, because it contains the number of doses, the place where the company must deliver. It is a very important part of the relationship between the country and the company. ”
“The process – continues Gallina – was extremely important and there was the principle of solidarity, because some countries were ready to buy those doses. And it was not always easy to find a way to place all the doses. Because those vaccines did not exist. : it was not easy for these states to buy doses that did not exist “. There are also exceptions to this distribution mechanism: “What was clear in the steering group and among the member states – explains Gallina – is that there have been SOS actions for serious epidemiological cases. This is possible and means that some Countries have received expedited deliveries. ” Of course, “it was not a very easy exercise, because everyone has difficult situations at home. And the epidemiological situation is very changeable. What should move the Member States is solidarity, because we will all be vulnerable if we do not have the same approach to vaccination” .
“The principle of distribution has to think about health first of all: and on this the Member States have ideas on how to approach it, but at the moment we have discussions on this. I think that after all solidarity will prevail”, he concludes.