EU agrees with Biontech/Pfizer on delivery of 300 million vaccines doses /

Agreement is good news, but it is also good that the European Commission stayed strong / European rules must be adhered to, also from American companies

"It is very good that an agreement could be found," says the health spokesperson for the biggest group in European parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), Dr med Peter Liese about the signature of the contract between the European Commission and the vaccine manufacturer Biontech/Pfizer. Yesterday, Biontech announced that the vaccine is 90% effective as was observed during clinical trials and that there are only very few side effects. So far, there has been no EU contract on the delivery of the vaccine, even though negotiations have been going on for months.

“It is very good that the contract can now be signed at short notice. It would have been completely inconceivable if a vaccine would have been developed in Germany with German and European funding and would then not have be available to EU citizens. The responsible people at BioNTech, with whom I have been in close contact over the past few weeks, have always agreed to this as well. In my opinion, there have been problems with Pfizer.

BioNTech is a serious German medium-sized company, whereas Pfizer is an American big company with obviously different ideas, and therefore, patience and pressure were needed in order to strike a good and fair contract. It is very good that the European Commission stayed strong during the negotiation process. Anyone who wants to approve a vaccine in Europe and who wishes to conclude a contract with the EU must comply with European law. Obviously, Pfizer had ideas that were difficult to accept, and consequently, tough negotiations had to follow. We need a vaccine as soon as possible, however, it still has to be safe and companies have to follow European rules, e.g. with regards to data transparency and liability”, concludes Liese.