The European Commission takes a small step towards greater transparency on Covid-19 vaccinations. On Monday 11 January, Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides announced that MEPs will be able to see, from this Tuesday, the contract with CureVac. “More companies should follow this example”, she said via Twitter.
Ms Kyriakides has also written to Member States to update them on the vaccination strategy. The aim is to find out “who has contact - or rather who does not - with the companies with which we have negotiated or are negotiating on behalf of the EU”, summarised the spokesman for the European Commission, Eric Mamer.
The European Union has so far negotiated six advance purchase agreements and conditional marketing authorisation of two vaccines against Covid-19.
This clarification is deemed necessary in light of the controversy over the attitude of the German authorities. Berlin is said to have purchased an additional 30 million doses from Pfizer-BioNTech outside the European mechanism (see EUROPE 12630/1). According to Politico, Germany - like France and Denmark - is prepared to buy back unsold goods. Several States allegedly do not plan to order all the doses intended for them in relation to their populations.
“We have signed the advance purchase agreements, but it is the Member States that sign the order forms that allow them to calibrate the delivery according to their needs and their vaccination strategy”, Eric Mamer said during the press conference.
The Commission is said to be in talks with Moderna to increase its orders, Reuters reported on Monday, quoting two EU officials. It is also seeking to conclude new contracts with Valneva and Novavax (see EUROPE 12625/7).
On Tuesday morning, MEPs on the Committee for Environment and Public Health will hear from the EU’s chief negotiator about advance purchase contracts for vaccines. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)