After a year of trying to find an adequate supply of COVID-19 vaccines, stocks in some European countries are flooded with unusable vaccines, telling drug companies that they do not want to pay more. The performance of these vaccine manufacturers may be affected.
Health officials from three EU member states, including Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Finland, the Netherlands and the Baltic countries, met on Wednesday to discuss revising contracts with COVID-19 vaccine makers such as PFE.US because of oversupply and the rising cost of short-term vaccines.
In recent weeks, Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski organized the virtual meeting after some EU member states issued an appeal to the European Commission (European Commission), the EU's executive arm.
Some countries are seeking to revise so-called "advance purchase agreements" with manufacturers because of reduced demand for vaccines and pressure on government budgets due to the impact of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the cost of hosting refugees.
At the end of last month, the prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania jointly wrote to European Commission President Von de Lane, saying that the adjustment agreement with suppliers could give member states the right to "re-phase, suspend or completely cancel the delivery of vaccines with short shelf life".
The Bulgarian Ministry of Health said there was a need for an "open dialogue" with the European Commission and pharmaceutical companies on vaccine supply. Bulgaria has the lowest vaccination rate in the European Union.
European Commission promotes a large number of COVID-19 vaccine contracts
The European Commission took the lead in supplying vaccines to the European Union and other European countries, brokering deals with PFE.US / BioNTech and Moderna (MRNA.US) to ensure the provision of billions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine at the height of the epidemic. But many countries, including those with low vaccination rates, are now scrambling to cut costs because demand for vaccines has fallen.
Romania, one of the least vaccinated countries in the European Union, has begun to sell surplus vaccines to Germany and Hungary in the face of oversupply and shortage of stocks. Hungary did not participate in the latest round of joint purchases to reduce its own excess supply.
Poland triggered a force majeure clause last month after it failed to renegotiate agreements with suppliers and refused to pay for new supplies or additional vaccine doses.
The European Commission said on May 13th that it had reached an agreement with BioNTech and Pfizer to adjust the delivery schedule according to the situation of member states. The European Commission said vaccines originally scheduled for June and throughout the summer would now be shipped during September and autumn and winter, but no copies of the agreement were provided.
Both Pfizer and BioNTech say they are working with the committee to address the needs of the growing COVID-19 epidemic. BioNTech said Friday that the two companies could not comment on potential or ongoing discussions.
Efforts to change the terms of the agreement highlight how the 27-nation bloc has entered a new phase in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. Although demand began to decline just a year after countries scrambled for vaccine supplies, many EU member states are still far from meeting the 70 per cent vaccination target.
Covax, the global vaccine programme backed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), says it has sufficient doses of vaccine for countries to meet their vaccination targets, but delivery is slowing as the focus shifts from supply to overcoming distribution barriers, hesitation and other obstacles to promotion.
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