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CRITICAL: Støre demands transparency about Norway’s vaccine agreements. Photo: Tore Kristiansen
Jonas Gahr Støre asks Bent Høie to answer whether, through the vaccine agreement with the EU, we have committed to not entering into other vaccine agreements.
– In a situation where the syringes are ready in vaccination rooms across the country, but we lack doses to fill them, we must have full transparency about what the government does to obtain vaccines, says the leader of the Labor Party, Jonas Gahr Støre, to VG.
This week, several have wondered if Norway can obtain vaccines outside of the agreement that we have signed with the EU.
Sp notes, among other things, that Russia and the FRP believe that we should do the same as the Danes: contact Israel for cooperation on vaccines.
Støre believes that Health Minister Bent Høie (H) should be open about the restrictions contained in the agreement:
– Is it true that Norway through the agreement with the EU has forced us not to enter into agreements with others?
– And if not, what does the government do to obtain vaccines outside the agreement? It’s natural for Høie to respond, Støre tells VG.
VG has previously written that both the Labor Party, the Socialist People’s Party and the Green Party have asked Høie for answers about the initiatives he took towards vaccine companies, before Norway reached an agreement to obtain a vaccine through the EU. Høie has been unwilling to answer that.
– If Høie himself does not take the initiative for transparency about contact with companies, we must consider whether he should answer for this at the Storting, says Støre.
I will not answer
VG has presented Støre’s criticism to the Ministry of Health and asked whether Norway through the agreement with the EU has promised not to enter into agreements with others and with which vaccine companies Norway was in contact.
They don’t respond to that, and they repeat what the ministry has said several times:
– By allowing Norway to participate in the EU countries’ vaccine cooperation, member countries have received an additional country to share doses. This means that the doses of vaccine we receive, which are mainly produced in the EU, were actually destined for another EU country. It would be unwise for Norway to go behind the backs of other European countries to try to get us more vaccines on its own when EU countries show us so much solidarity, Secretary of State Saliba Andreas Korkunc writes in an email to VG .
Uncertainty prevails
News came in on Thursday that the Russian Sputnik V vaccine will be considered for approval in Europe. The vaccine has been reviewed in the EU system.
Reuters later reported that the EU has no talks with Russia about purchasing the Russian vaccine.
The news agency also reports that Russian spokespersons say that the EU, and probably Norway as well, can receive a Russian vaccine starting in the summer, and that some EU countries will approve the Sputnik vaccine as early as March.
On Thursday, French authorities also targeted Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen for her attempt to bring an Israeli vaccine to Denmark.
The French do not want solo careers, but a coordinated EU strategy.
Both Frp and Sp have expressed that Norway must also take the initiative to obtain vaccines faster.
It is not relevant for Norway.
– If, for example, the Sputnik vaccine is approved, the company says they can deliver ten million doses to the EU community in June at the earliest. It will be a little over 100,000 doses for Norway, at a time when existing agreements will probably give us two million doses. Therefore, together with the other EU countries, we will assess whether this is necessary. Together with the other countries, we are better equipped to negotiate agreements on vaccines, Korkunc writes.
High: not applicable
Health Minister Bent Høie also previously told VG that he is against such initiatives, because they could jeopardize the vaccines Norway receives through the EU deal.
Nor will the Labor leader go down those roads:
– It is unwise to do this in a way that creates conflicts with countries with which we completely depend on good cooperation. The point is that we need to know how much room for maneuver we have. If there are opportunities to get more vaccines faster, we should use them, if we can do it in a way that doesn’t jeopardize deals or relationships, Støre says.
