The European Commission confirmed on Tuesday 19 April that the Polish authorities’ wish to withdraw from the EU’s pooled procurement mechanism for Covid-19 vaccines was being discussed by the mechanism’s steering board.
“Member states are bound by their contract obligations but the Commission understands the difficult position that Poland is in and will continue facilitate the discussion between the Polish authorities and the [vaccine] company in order to find a pragmatic solution to the situation the country is confronted with”, said Stefan de Keersmaecker, spokesman for the EU institution.
Warsaw refers to a force majeure clause related to the massive influx of migrants fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Poland, where less than 60% of its population is vaccinated against Covid-19 with two doses, has already sold or donated part of its Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine stock. It cannot unilaterally withdraw from the contract for the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines to which the Commission is also a party. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)