Bulgaria wants Brussels to Buy Out its Unneeded Vaccines against COVID-19

Bulgaria, Poland, Lithuania and Hungary insist on renegotiating the conditions for the supply of Pfizer's vaccines against COVID-19, according to a joint statement of their health ministers, quoted by the BTA correspondent in Brussels.

According to the announcement, they submitted their position to the EU Council of Health Ministers, which is meeting on Tuesday in Brussels.

According to the four health ministers, the European Commission "should look for opportunities for further negotiations, especially on payments for missed deliveries, to reduce the number of agreed doses or to take the initiative itself and buy the surplus to donate to regions in need".

"We call on the EC, acting on our behalf, to negotiate a new, fairer deal in the public interest," the statement said, explaining that "this necessitates a significant reduction in the number of doses based on the quantities required by countries".

"We do not agree with unwanted supplies that exceed the needs of the countries," added the statement quoted by BTA.

The position expresses concern about the proposals made for a new addition to the agreement for the supply of the vaccine from Pfizer/Biontech, with whose manufacturer the EU has a contract for 2022-2023 to provide up to 1.8 billion doses.

According to the four ministers, these proposals do not represent a final and fair solution to the problems with the surplus of vaccines and do not meet the needs of health systems and citizens, as well as the financial interests of EU countries, reports BTA.

"Acknowledging that some countries wish to receive all the agreed doses, the ministers note that their opposition to the proposals will not affect the rest of the European...