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The common European Union procurement strategy for vaccines has failed, according to some, and the most moderate. Certainly some Member States are furious that proportionally more citizens of the United Kingdom and the United States are being vaccinated than EU citizens. In a Facebook presentation on Thursday, Béla Mekely, Rector of Semmelweis University and Ferenc Marofka, an official in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, also addressed procurement issues for corona virus and vaccines subtopics. . The event was organized by Europe Point.
On the committee, Ferenc Marofka, who has been involved in drug research and, more recently, the coronavirus vaccine, recalled the year 2020, when protective equipment was hastily acquired from each other.
That’s when it became clear that this Wild West method would not work for vaccines.
Clarified the situation. He added that manufacturers were able to develop vaccines much earlier than EU leaders would have thought, but that this could only be done at the cost of rapid development, leaving the old protocol aside. For the sake of fantasy: the pharmaceutical company Merck has developed an Ebola vaccine worth around a billion dollars over 5 years, while a coronavirus vaccine has been produced in a matter of months.
Marofka recalled June 12 last year, when EU members agreed on a common procurement strategy. Sandra Gallina became the main negotiator in the negotiations with the vaccine manufacturers, signed the free trade agreement between South America and the EU, but had no medical experience.
It was then possible to agree with the manufacturers at a glance that an emergency fund of € 2.7 billion was available, without the need for a single authorization from the Member States. From this, the advances were transferred to the pharmaceutical companies.
Marofka spoke of “casinos” in this regard, as they could not know which manufacturer could produce the most effective vaccine possible first.
The contracts with companies were conditional on the arrival of vaccines with as many technologies as possible, European production and close cooperation with the EMA, the European Medicines Agency. This last criterion was the reason why the Chinese and Russian vaccine manufacturers were excluded from the first round of agreements. A total of 2.5 billion vaccines have been agreed.
The EU-AstraZeneca wrestling match
The specialist specifically addressed the AstraZeneca vaccine, with which the union leadership fought huge battles to adhere to the points established in the purchase contract. The advance of 400 million euros was given by the EU to the British-Swedish company to deliver 100 million doses in the first quarter. By comparison, the producer promised just $ 80 million in December and $ 31 million in January; the cell culture was reported to be underperforming. Although the agreement stated that AstraZeneca could reach the EU from other plants, the company claimed that they could not import more doses from England under the agreement with them.
It also shows that there has been a quasi-war situation around vaccines between certain countries.
– says Marofka.
AstraZeneca eventually added 9 million servings to the 31 million lot.
Marofka noted that European Commission leader Ursula von der Leyen finally publicly apologized to member states for addressing vaccine supply problems and acknowledged that the union was too optimistic about the situation. To avoid similar situations, the EU has been monitoring EU vaccine exports for some time and has established a network called HERA.
The union now aims to vaccinate 70% of the EU’s adult population by the summer.
At this point, Béla Merkely asked the question: why doesn’t the EU protect Britain in the same way as Great Britain?
Why does the Union release vaccines from its territory when they don’t? You must wear gloves like them or those from the USA.
Marofka replied that if the European Union introduced export restrictions, everyone involved in the trade chain would lose out. Therefore, borders cannot be closed.
As a side note, he added:
we have to think if it is correct that while we consider it important to vaccinate our athletes here at home, others prefer the front line fighters.
The Russians did not rush to the EU market.
Speaking about Chinese and Russian vaccines, Ferenc Marofka explained that both the Chinese and the Russians produce vaccines for the domestic market and the global market, but not for Europe, the United States. The EU and the United States have the strictest drug licensing procedures, so the Russians weren’t in a rush to allow them here, among other things. However, the EMA is currently reviewing the pedigree documentation for the vaccine called Sputnik. Although the clinical trials are conducted according to their own rules, the quality of the production is guaranteed by a German company in Germany. The Hungarian authorities examined Sputnik production according to the same strict rules.
Who cannot get vaccinated?
Several commenters asked, and Béla Merkely responded by emphasizing that complications from vaccination are rare and anaphylactic shock is quite rare. There was no such person at the hospital, while János Szlávik, an infectologist at South Pest Central Hospital, reported only one such case, but that patient did not die in shock.
The SOTE rector said that although there is no approved vaccine for pregnant mothers, it is almost impossible for the vaccine to harm the child. It can already be administered during breastfeeding because it causes passive protection.
Marofka added here that during the initial use of the flu vaccine, the vaccine was not recommended for use in pregnant women at first, but later, when studies confirmed its safety, of course it was.
Those who are not vaccinated get the virus.
Merkely generally emphasized that he thinks all licensed vaccines are safe, the vaccine provides safe protection. If we contract it, the infection will go through us with mild symptoms at most. Therefore, the more people, the more people need to be vaccinated.
He reported some internal data: SOTE doctors were vaccinated 100 percent, while professionals 92 percent did the same. This is important because, as he stressed: those who do not get vaccinated will sooner or later get the infection. In his opinion, those who have been vaccinated or have suffered from the disease should enjoy partial freedom without movement restrictions.
I am positive: due to the seasonality of the infection and the increase in vaccination, the situation will be much better for the summer. Let me tell you a serious figure: 4 million Hungarians have already been infected
The rector astonished the audience. According to the officially confirmed daily number of infections, 6 to 7 times more people get sick every day.
The interlocutors also referred to herd immunity, which depends on the change in the so-called R number. If the number of people infected by one person increases (currently R = 3), more people should be vaccinated against herd immunity.
We can plan the trip
Looking ahead, Ferenc Marofka is confident that it accelerates the development of vaccine technology by 5-10 years and that mRNA technology is working for the future. The European Commission is encouraging manufacturers to try to focus on and deal with mutants as efficiently as possible. He sees that it is already possible to plan a trip to Europe in the second half of the year.
Béla Merkely spoke about the experience gained: in 2017, some 5,000 people died from an influenza virus illness in Hungary, while this year there was no influenza pandemic because we kept our distance and used a mask.
Finally, when it comes to mortality, he drew attention to it: it is always a question of whether the COVID itself directly kills the person or whether the weakened immune system plays a more important role than the deceased. In Slovakia, for example, they wait 7 days after death to be able to know for sure if the covid is the cause of death.
Cover image: MTI Photographer: Tamás Vasvári
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