“Nobody bought extra dose”

Published on: 12/29/2020 8:24 PM

Germany did not purchase an additional 30 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer, outside of the advance purchase scheme organized by the European Commission. “To our knowledge, no Member State has received additional doses outside of the EU agreement,” a Commission spokesperson told Adnkronos.

The advance purchase agreement concluded between the Commission and BioNTech-Pfizer, the spokesperson recalled, “has reserved 200 million doses of the vaccine for European citizens, offering the option to buy up to 100 million additional doses. The Commission has confirmed yesterday to BioNTech and Pfizer the activation of all the optional doses, 100 million ”.

Soon it is said what happened. The spokesperson recalled that “the starting point for the allocation of doses to the Member States is the distribution key, depending on the population. However, it specifies, adjustments between Member States are possible, according to their needs and requests, as that some states may be interested in having more doses, while others may not be. ” The member states, he continues, “discussed this and agreed in the steering committee and maintained a joint approach, which is at the heart of the EU vaccination strategy. Therefore, the distribution will be carried out within the framework of agreements of advance purchase “, concludes the spokesman.

Therefore, Germany simply opted for additional doses that other countries were not interested in buying, staying perfectly within the joint EU framework. The reasons that led some countries (or which ones) to give up the option to buy other vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech are unknown, but it may have affected the prospect that other vaccines are about to be licensed, he recalled. today Ursula von der Leyen. The vaccine developed by Moderna could reach Epiphany, if authorized by the EMA, and there is expectation for the one from AstraZeneca. Financial considerations may also have taken a toll: Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine, which uses a new technology, messenger RNA, is among the most expensive.

According to data tweeted and later deleted by Belgian Undersecretary Eva de Bleeker, whom the Commission has not denied, although without confirming it, the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine costs the EU 12 euros per dose, slightly less than 18 dollars (14, 7 euros). in today’s exchange) at Moderna’s vaccine dose. The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is the cheapest (1.78 euros per dose). For CureVac it is 10 euros per dose, for Sanofi / Gsk it is 7.56 euros, for Johnson & Johnson 8.5 dollars per dose.

For now, the pre-purchase contracts with manufacturers of vaccines against Covid-19 signed by the Commission are 6: AstraZeneca (400 million doses), Sanofi-Gsk (300 million), Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen (400 million), BioNTech-Pfizer (300 million doses), Curevac (405 million doses) and Moderna (160 million doses). Talks were also concluded with a seventh producer, Novavax, a biotechnology company from Maryland (USA) listed on Nasdaq: the contract must include the purchase of 100 million doses, with an option for another 100 million.