EU Member States held an exchange of views on Friday 9 December on the future of the European Covid-19 vaccine strategy, in the presence of Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, the Director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Andrea Ammon, and the Director of the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Emer Cooke.
The Czech Presidency of the EU Council was keen to put this item on the EU Council’s agenda due to requests, in particular from 10 Member States who claim to be experiencing problems of oversupply (see EUROPE 13070/6).
Czech Health Minister Vlastimil Válek says he is faced with a surplus of vaccines “that we cannot store, use or give away” and is concerned that the deadlines for vaccine doses already delivered will expire. However, he is not satisfied with the latest proposals from the vaccine manufacturers.
According to him, the issue has taken on a considerable political dimension. The Presidency of the EU Council is therefore asking the Member States to express their expectations regarding the Commission’s action on existing contracts and whether a return to national procurement systems should be considered.
Most Member States welcomed the centralised vaccine procurement strategy at European level. Belgium and Malta doubled their support for the common approach to see the group purchasing mechanism extended to other medicines.
Overall, however, the states feel that there is a need for more transparency on the part of the Commission and for more flexible contracts on the issue of surpluses.
States have raised the possibility of freezing 2023 supplies pending amendments to the existing framework contracts. Lithuania has spoken out against pre-delivery payments.
Latvia specifically proposes exchanging the cancellation of vaccine supplies for the delivery of other medicines from the same company.
Bulgaria does not think that it is reasonable to continue with the common approach. With a vaccination rate of 30% of its population (source ECDC) as of 9 December, Bulgaria has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the EU. One European official acknowledged that the issue of states’ vaccine absorption capacity and vaccine hesitancy could be linked.
Ms Kyriakides agreed that it was unacceptable to have to destroy vaccines, but stressed that the pandemic was not over. She noted the agreements reached with Pfizer/BioNtech and Moderna to reschedule deliveries and for an outsourced storage solution (see EUROPE 13060/20). For the Commissioner, the EU’s centralised procurement strategy in partnership with Member States is an “insurance policy” and “cannot be easily wiped out”, as a new variant is always likely to emerge, including in a part of the world where vaccination rates are low.
The Commission says it is ready to support the Member States in reaching a jointly negotiated solution with the manufacturers. (Original version in French by Emilie Vanderhulst)