Poland is seeking to enhance contract flexibility of Covid vaccine

In the EU negotiations, Poland will demand more flexibility in vaccine contracts, according to a health ministry spokesman.

On Monday, Adam Niedzielski, the Minister of Health, is scheduled to travel to Luxembourg for dialogues with his EU counterparts.

The government of Poland has already informed the European Commission and Pfizer, the pharmaceutical firm that developed Covid-19, that owing to unprecedented events connected with millions of Ukrainian refugees, Poland would reject any further Covid-19 vaccine doses.

After a meeting in May, Niedzielski stated that over a dozen nations, like Poland, have voiced interest in being allowed to negotiate greater flexibility in their EC vaccine contracts.

"We're not breaching the contract exactly," Health Ministry Spokesperson Wojciech Andrusiewicz confirmed to PAP on Monday. "We informed the Pfizer firm and Moderna of our inability to fulfill those orders, as well as asking for further doses not to be sent. We attempted as a government, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Health Minister Adam Niedzielski both worked hard for contract flexibility.

"On one hand, there are seventy million Covid-19 vaccines for Poland to market (but) what's most crucial is that those vaccines haven't been produced yet," Andrusiewic added. "However, we have an epidemic that has abated. As a result, not only in Poland but also across the European Union, there has been reduced interest in the vaccine. Also, there is the Ukrainian conflict and refugee crisis. Poland must now provide social and medical care as well as other benefits to the over 3 million Ukrainian refugees in the country."

Poland told the drug producers and EC it could not keep its side of the bargain due to this problem, but did not want to terminate the contract altogether, according to Andrusiewicz.

"Our plan was to improve flexibility and extend the number of years for deliveries or for Pfizer to substitute the Covid vaccine with other medications.

"Let us not ignore the fact that it is a pharmaceutical firm that sells vaccines in Poland," he added. Unfortunately, we've hit a brick wall. Within the confines of this forum, we'll be taking steps to extend the number of nations yearning for increased contract flexibility."