Pfizer produces both the Comirnaty mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine and the oral COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid. The corporation is facing several problems with the demand for its therapeutics globally. Poland has started to negotiate the terms of the contract.
Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen, Moderna (Spikevax), Novavax Nuvaxovid, AstraZeneca, Comirnaty Pfizer – these 4 kinds of Covid-19 vaccines were inserted into the Polish medical market. Now, Poland still has 25 million Pfizer vaccines in storage, and under the contract, another 60-70 million are to come.
“This is indeed one of the main problems if we are talking about a certain Covid situation. In the beginning, we began to donate or sell vaccines to countries that didn’t have access to these therapeutics in the first place. We have managed to donate or sell nearly 30 million vaccines.”,Minister of Health Adam Niedzielski informed.
Poland wants to make vaccine contracts more flexible so that the money could be allocated to support refugees from Ukraine. However, the European Commission didn’t want to spread the deliveries and payments over time.
“At the end of last week, we used the force majeure clause. We informed both the European Commission and the main vaccine producer that we refuse to receive vaccinations at the moment, also we refuse to make payments.”, Minister of Health Adam Niedzielski added.
Pfizer is just the beginning. In the next few weeks, Poland will try to change the terms of the contract and hope for more flexibility.
The Pfizer multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation faces more issues regarding its production of therapeutics.
“Paxlovid was expected to be a major tool in the fight against COVID after it reduced hospitalizations or deaths in high-risk patients by around 90% in a clinical trial.”, reuters.com reports.
However, similarly to the vaccine situation in Poland, overall utilization of the oral COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid is low and Governments in countries such as USA, Italy and the United Kingdom try to define their demand. The situation is very rapid and requires decisive measures to be taken.
“Right now we have some countries – some of them very big countries – that have dispensed a very small percentage of the quantities that they already have,” Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said.
Worldwide demand for Pfizer’s oral COVID antiviral treatment Paxlovid has been light due to complicated eligibility requirements, reduced testing, and potential for drug interactions, a @Reuters review of data and interviews with experts has found https://t.co/enSFcZhlQc
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 19, 2022