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The European Parliament committee calls for greater transparency in the EU vaccine strategy. According to a statement issued by the Commission on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety on Friday morning, the growing uncertainty surrounding the distribution of vaccines should be offset by factual data.
The European Parliament expects all countries to provide complete information on the exact number of vaccine doses received.
– said the president of the committee, Pascal Canfin. He added that Member States should provide data on this as only a few countries have reported accurate stocks so far.
However, at the commission’s request, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control fulfilled its reporting obligation. The EU institute will show on a map the quantities of vaccines delivered to the Member States based on the joint procurement of vaccines from the EU. This shows that Hungary is in the middle of its offer.
There were 5.1 doses of EU vaccine for every 100 inhabitants in Hungary, which means 414,630 doses.
There are 6.1 doses of vaccine per 100 inhabitants in Romania and 6.4 doses in Poland. However, in Croatia, an EU Member State also in the region, the figure is just 2.8.
As previously written in the Index, there is a growing commotion over the joint procurement of vaccines in the EU. Last year, the European Commission company managed to buy vaccines well below the market price. It has signed so-called ex ante market commitments with six European pharmaceutical companies to support its research and development; the goal was to finish the products as quickly as possible. Therefore, in return, the Commission has also agreed on the quantity of vaccines to be delivered, but this has already been agreed by the Member States with the pharmaceutical companies.
However, implementation is hampered by strong international demand: the market price of vaccines has risen, so European pharmaceutical companies have been reluctant to deliver the quantity of vaccine established in the agreement.
Furthermore, the contracts are not public, so it is not known exactly how much a dose of the EU vaccine will cost, but the European Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF, which is investigating the implementation of the contracts, also keeps secrets. . Due to the delay, the member states are impatient, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó spoke about this index in an interview.
The European Parliament warned of a conflict over delays and secrecy in January and called for greater transparency in the deal. In mid-January, he heard from Sandra Gallina, EU Commissioner for Vaccine Procurement Contracts. On the basis of its statement at that time, the EP received detailed information from the Commission, but this is not supported by the events of the last weeks or by today’s statement calling for more transparency.
(Cover image: Vaccination in a nursing home in Szolnok on January 31, 2021. Photo: János Mészáros / MTI)
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