EU countries are not allowed to buy vaccines independently from one of the manufacturers with whom the EU has already concluded contracts.
They have agreed on this, says President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission.
Von der Leyen responded to Germany’s criticism, which says it has itself bought tens of millions of doses of two German-made vaccines. However, her committee does not want to comment on the German solo action.
It is unclear whether it has been cancelled now that the committee has announced that it will double its order with the German-American combination BioNTech-Pfizer.
The EU countries have agreed that the European Commission will negotiate with vaccine manufacturers on their behalf, to be stronger in the negotiations and to prevent the Member States from competing and perhaps missing out.
The jointly ordered vaccines are distributed legally among the Member States that are interested in them.