Despite the controversies, the European Union isn’t sick of Covid shots.
The union is orchestrating a tender for nearly 150 million doses of mRNA Covid vaccines updated to the dominant variant, in a move that is widely expected to award Moderna a new contract.
But it lands at an awkward time.
As the threat from the pandemic has diminished and people opt to miss their boosters, countries have been unable to use up their Covid vaccines fast enough. As of last year, at least 215 million expired doses were binned at an estimated cost to the taxpayer of €4 billion, as revealed by POLITICO.
Meanwhile, in Hungary and Poland, Pfizer is suing after the countries stopped paying their share of the vaccine bill, saying they didn’t need more doses.
That bill is for a huge contract of around 1.1 billion doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine inked by the EU in 2021, which has since come under intense scrutiny for the personal role that Ursula von der Leyen may have played in negotiations. The contract has already been renegotiated to delay and spread out deliveries through 2026 to better meet the lower demands of countries.
Nonetheless, that leaves only one vaccine option on the table. The remaining vaccines from Moderna, Novavax and others have either expired or the doses have all been delivered.
The European Commission has come under fire from public health leaders to ensure there is more than one vaccine available to countries, to offer choice to people but also to spread the risk in case of future supply chain threats.
In addition, Covid immunizations aren’t going away. The virus is still out there, mutating and causing sickness and deaths, and annual Covid shots for older and vulnerable people are likely to be a public health strategy for years to come.
Learning lessons
But Europe isn’t falling into the same traps again.
This latest tender is for an “estimated” 146 million doses over 24 months, and it can be renewed for 12 months twice.
The final number of doses isn’t clear because it’s a joint procurement agreement. That means that no matter who wins the tender, there won’t be any obligation for countries to buy the doses they asked for. It gives more power to countries in choosing whether or not they actually need more shots.
That said, 18 EU countries have signed up, plus Norway and the Republic of Northern Macedonia, demonstrating a strong interest for another Covid shot. The tender is being led by the EU’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA).
And while there are currently two makers of mRNA Covid vaccines, Pfizer/BioNTech continue to be tied into their long-term contract so it’s likely this new tender will go to Moderna.
Moderna confirmed to POLITICO it intends to apply, adding that this deal “will allow member states to secure access to a diversified portfolio of mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccines in 2024 and beyond.”
A spokesperson at Pfizer told POLITICO the company “considers any engagements of this nature with government bodies to be confidential.”
UPDATED: This article has been updated with Pfizer’s comment.