Dario Martini October 02, 2022
Pfizer’s number one, Albert Bourla, refuses to appear at a hearing in the European Parliament. Belgian Kathleen Van Brempt, chair of the special commission investigating the purchase of vaccines against Covid, can only express “deep regret”. The CEO of the American pharmaceutical giant was expected on October 10th. It would have been the perfect opportunity to find out what was ahead of the third 1.8 billion dose deal in the text messages exchanged with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in early 2021.
An irrational fact to say the least, despite the transparency rules that govern negotiations of this kind. As Politico.eu reports, the spokesman for the company that makes the Comirnaty serum has announced that Janine Small, head of the international markets development group, will take Bourla’s place at the hearing before the commission. It won’t be the same as only Bourla can clarify the private messages received from der Leyen. She, too, has always hid behind absolute silence, although the European Ombudsman, Emily ÒReilly, who has repeatedly asked the Commission to forward these communications, has also activated the case.
When this request could no longer be processed last June, the Commission said it could not deliver it because it was simply not being kept. The Ombudsman had to be content with this explanation: “If a document drawn up or received by the Commission does not contain essential information and / or is short-lived and / or does not fall within the institutional sphere of responsibility of the institution, then it is not the Meet criteria for registration and are therefore not registered. These ephemeral documents are not kept and are therefore not available to the institution. In the last few days, the EU Court of Auditors has also intervened, according to which the Commission “did not comply with the usual procedures for contracts”.
In its latest report, the EU control body doubts that 1.4 billion vaccines were bought too much, costing an average of 15 euros each. In total, the EU has bought 4.6 billion cans, with ‘pre-purchase’ contracts at a cost of €71 billion. The doses supplied by Pfizer amount to 2.4 billion, of which 1.8 would be exactly those agreed between von der Leyen and Bourla “privately”, i.e. outside the usual and regular procedures. The League has asked several questions to try and discover the truth. Today he continues his fight. For MEP Stefania Zambelli, member of the special commission on Covid, Bourlas is “another episode in a dark story”. “First, the case of exchanging text messages in full pandemic to negotiate trade deals: text messages that, despite pleas from the European Ombudsman, are still hidden today, with a shameful and utterly contemptuous attitude towards the much-vaunted transparency on the part of the institutions, including the EU Court of Auditors indicted. After the silence from der Leyens, Bourla had the opportunity to clarify the European Parliament, but he preferred to escape. Why all these secrets? What are they hiding from European citizens? ».