With regard to price, a Pfizer spokesperson said: “We have always had a tiered pricing approach for COVID-19 vaccines guided by agreed volumes and national income levels to ensure equity between agreements with countries with similar economic profiles.” Is.”
A spokesperson for BioNTech said that his company “will continue to work with the European Commission and governments to find practical solutions while respecting the fundamental principles agreed between the parties in concluding the agreement”.
global glut
Although vaccine gluts are a worldwide issue, Europe is grappling with a particularly large excess.
Most people in the European Union who wanted the primary course of the COVID-19 vaccine, and who were eligible for subsequent boosters, have received them. The European Union’s drug regulator warned in November that taking booster doses had been disappointing.
In May 2021, Brussels signed a contract with Pfizer and BioNTech to buy 900 million doses, with an option for an additional 900 million doses by the end of 2023.
About half or more of the first 900 million doses of that contract have not yet been delivered as demand slumped last year. The EU has not exercised the additional option.
According to Our World In data, around 328 million people have received the primary course of the vaccine in the European Union out of a total population of around 450 million.
Negotiations over the unwanted dose are the latest in a series of talks over changes to the 2021 contract. Brussels is under pressure to cut the quantity as EU member states complain of strained budgets and no desire to spend money on unnecessary supplements.
At 19.50 euros ($21.22) in the May 2021 contract, European governments are under contract to make total payments of between 7.8 billion and 9.75 billion euros this year.
It is not clear what the revalued value will be in Europe. In the United States, Pfizer is expected to charge a list price of $110 to $130 per dose in the fall, although that price does not include rebates.
EU officials have said for months that there is a mismatch between supply and demand for COVID-19 vaccines.
“We are no longer at the peak of the crisis, and this directly affects our demand for vaccines, while public finances are under great pressure at the moment,” EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides told a European Council meeting in December. “
“Our vaccine contracts should take into account the current situation and companies should show flexibility on that,” he added.