When the agenda was approved at the start of the Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers’ hearing on Monday 10 October, Kathleen Van Brempt (S&D, Belgian), Chair of the European Parliament’s special committee set up to learn the lessons of Covid-19, expressed her disappointment about Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, cancelling his participation in the day’s hearing. Pfizer sent Janine Small, the company’s president of international developed markets, to speak in place of Mr Bourla.
Ms Van Brempt and the committee’s secretariat contacted Pfizer to get Mr Bourla to reconsider his decision, but without success. “This concerns the largest manufacturer and supplier of Covid-19 vaccines in the EU”, Ms Van Brempt noted with regret to the committee. The Chair added: “I fully share your concerns on the lack of transparency regarding Covid vaccine procurement and I am convinced that European citizens have every right to this information”.
The S&D group also issued a statement through Sara Cerdas (S&D, Portuguese), deploring the cancellation of Mr Bourla’s participation and saying that it could not go unanswered.
Ms Van Brempt said that the issue would be on the agenda of the next coordinators’ meeting on 25 October.
The European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, on 12 July, and the Court of Auditors, in paragraph 50 of its report of 12 September (see EUROPE 13019/11), had underlined the transparency concerns raised by the non-disclosure of the SMS messages exchanged between the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Mr Bourla.
Link to the S&D press release: https://aeur.eu/f/3il
Link to the Ombudsman’s document: https://aeur.eu/f/3ij (Original version in French by Emilie Vanderhulst)