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“There is no funding for COVID-19,” the committee head said on Monday.
“I understand that today we cannot say exactly how much it will cost, but it could be from a few tens to 100 million euros. Or perhaps more. Part of the financing for this must be included in the budget and must reflect it,” added M. Majauskas.
Acting Health Minister Aurelius Veryga stated on his Facebook account that no PSDF funds were planned for the purchase of these vaccines.
“It just came to our knowledge then. The government’s agreement was to buy vaccines with borrowed funds,” said A. Veryga and emphasized that “a different principle of vaccine purchase will apply.”
“It just came to our attention then. It will not be a public procurement with standard rules and terms,” said A. Veryga.
According to him, the purchase of the coronavirus vaccine will be especially transparent, since this process will be controlled by the European Commission (EC).
“Neither opaque nor at the best price can be bought, because our country will have to buy the one or those that have been approved as safe and effective, and unfortunately we will have to pay what this new vaccine will cost. Furthermore, this process is coordinated by the EC. So opacity can hardly be blamed. Lithuania, like other countries, makes decisions at the national level to adhere or not to the agreements concluded by the EC with the developers of new vaccines against the coronavirus ”, says A.Veryga.
According to M. Majauskas, the funds must be contributed to the expenses of the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund (PSDF) or otherwise.
“We are not talking about the introduction of new taxes, so I see little room for changes on the revenue side, so we will have to increase costs and offset them with borrowed or reserve funds (PSDF – BNS),” he said M. Majauskas.
The government is determined to buy enough COVID-19 vaccine to vaccinate 70 percent. population of the country.
The Cabinet of Ministers has also decided that Lithuania, together with other European Union countries, will participate in the procurement of all COVID-19 vaccines under development negotiated by the European Commission, and the surplus, if any, would be sold to the Eastern Partnership countries.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has said that the European Medicines Agency could approve the first potential vaccines against the coronavirus, for which the results of clinical trials have already been presented, later this year o early next.
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