Belgian minister reveals prices the European Union will pay for various vaccines against COVID-19 and angry labs

A Belgian minister revealed on Friday – apparently by mistake – a delicate trade secret: the price that the European Union (EU) has agreed to pay for the main vaccines against COVID-19.

Belgian Secretary of State, Eva De Bleeker, published the price list on her Twitter account with the quantities of each vaccine that her country intends to buy, as well as the price she will pay for each dose in general..

The tweet was deleted quickly, but not enough to prevent users from taking screenshots that they later posted.

While activists for access to drugs were delighted with the transparency produced by the episode, the post angered the pharmaceutical companies with which the bloc negotiates.

Pfizer complained of a breach of confidentiality between the parties: “These prices are covered by a confidentiality clause in the contract with the European Commission”Elisabeth Schraepen, a spokeswoman for the Benelux region of the American pharmaceutical company – whose inoculant has already been approved in the United States and could receive a green light on the old continent on December 21 – told the Belgian newspaper In the evening.

In turn, the price list showed that Oxford / AstraZeneca is the cheapest, and Moderna is the most expensive, something that was already known. But the details allow countries negotiating with vaccine manufacturers to take a tougher line.

Here is the list of what the European Union has paid for each dose of vaccines:

-Oxford / AstraZeneca: 1.78 EUR (1.99 USD)

-Johnson & Johnson: $ 8.50

-Sanofi / GSK: € 7.56 ($ 8.44)

-Pfizer / BioNTech: 12 EUR (13.40 USD)

-CureVac: EUR 10 (USD 11.16)

-Modern: 18 USD

All countries in the world are interested in starting mass vaccination against COVID-19 as soon as possible and are currently engaged in a campaign to develop a program that make sure everyone has access to a sufficient number of doses to vaccinate the most vulnerable groups.

However, the prices of medicines and vaccines have always been kept trade secrets.

“We cannot say anything about this case, everything related to vaccines and prices is covered by confidentiality clauses, in the interest of society and also in the interest of negotiations ongoing, ”an EU Commission spokesman said at a news conference.

Belgium buys more than 33 million vaccines for a total of 279 million euros ($ 311 million).

The UK, which is no longer part of the European Union, has already obtained 357 million doses of various vaccines, including 40 million doses of Pfizer / BioNTech, which it already applies to hospitals across the country.

According to an article by the Guardian, now speculation will begin in The UK and other countries on whether their governments could get a better deal at lower prices for their citizens.

The EU has already signed contracts for the advance purchase of millions of doses of seven vaccines. Thursday, The European Commission has announced the signing of a seventh advance purchase agreement, in this case with Novavax, for 100 million doses, although the agreed price is unknown.

After weeks of steady decline, COVID-19 infections have risen again recently in Belgium, especially in Flanders, showing an average weekly increase of 12% and 3,146 positives in the last 24 hours.

Hospitalizations have already fallen by only 2% per week and deaths by 6.3%, whilethe number of occupied killings is 662, far from the level of 2,000 beds that the authorities consider critical. The accumulated incidence amounts to 282 new cases.

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