European Commissioner Stella Kyriakides took advantage of the videoconference of the European Health Ministers, on Wednesday 13 January, to remind EU Member States of their commitment not to launch their “own procurement procedures” for vaccines against Covid-19.
“Let me recall that, by signing the agreement (delegating negotiations to the EU), you all confirmed your participation in the procedure and agreed not to launch your own procedures for purchase of that vaccine with the same manufacturers”, she insisted, referring to the recent controversies linked to the memorandum of understanding concluded by Germany with BioNTech and CureVac (see EUROPE 12632/17).
“I understand the domestic pressures and the anxieties of your citizens (...), but parallel deals would undermine the European approach that has paid off”, she added.
At a press conference, she again avoided questions about the existence or lack thereof of parallel contracts: “One of the key principles is to avoid parallel orders and we are convinced that Member States are ready to comply with this”.
Towards a J&J application “in February”
The informal meeting of health ministers, which was also attended by representatives of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, also provided an opportunity to take stock of the epidemiological situation, the EU Vaccine Strategy and national vaccination campaigns.
On that occasion, Ms Kyriakides recalled that she had so far concluded six advance purchase agreements (with AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK, Johnson&Johnson, BioNTech-Pfizer, CureVac and Moderna) and was about to conclude two more (Novavax and Valneva).
Currently, only BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have received market authorisation. But two more vaccines are expected to follow, the commissioner stressed. AstraZeneca submitted an application for authorisation at the beginning of the week, paving the way for an opinion from the EMA and a decision from the European Commission on 29 January (see EUROPE 12634/1). As for Johnson&Johnson, according to MEP Peter Liese, the commissioner has announced that the company is expected to submit its application “in February”.
Building on science and encouraging research
Following this, the pharmaceutical industry, through its European and international organisations, issued a press release calling for a “science-based” approach to the Covid-19 vaccination strategy and not to deviate from the recommendations by changing the dose or the interval between doses.
On the side of the European Medicines Agency, it is stated that no changes to the recommendations are envisaged at this stage. “At present, the companies involved in the development of these vaccines have provided no evidence to support reducing the number of doses, extending the length of time between doses, changing the dose (half-dose) or mixing vaccines in order to immunise more people against Covid-19”, the agency told EUROPE, adding that it nevertheless stands ready to conduct further evaluations “if and when” new evidence supporting changes in dosing regimens becomes available.
Several representatives of the pharmaceutical industry (Albert Bourla for Pfizer, Ugur Sahin for BioNTech and Tal Zaks for Moderna) also participated in an online conference organised by the EPP Group in the European Parliament.
On this occasion, the CEO of Pfizer announced a “drastic” increase in the production of its vaccine, pledging to produce 2 billion doses and not 1.3 billion as initially planned. Invited by civil society to make public the contract concluded by Pfizer-BioNTech with the EU, Albert Bourla indicated that he would evaluate the possibility of producing versions that could be disclosed.
Fear of the English variant
At present, SARS-CoV-2 has infected nearly 16 million people in the EU/European Economic Area and caused the death of 377,000 people.
On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) expressed concern about the new variants currently in circulation. It estimates that there are currently 50 countries and territories with the British variant (VOC 202012/01) and 20 with the variant identified in South Africa (501Y.V2). A third mutation was also discovered last week in Japan.
Asked about the new mutations, Moderna’s medical manager, Tal Zaks, said he expects Moderna’s vaccine to protect against these variants as well. “But we’re keeping our fingers on the pulse”, he said. According to him, Moderna’s vaccine provides protection for several months, although it is too early to know exactly how long. “It should be at least a year, probably longer”, he said, the six months now seeming to be a given. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)