EU countries destroyed at least 215 million doses of coronavirus vaccines

(Patria) - At least 215 million doses of coronavirus vaccines, purchased by EU member states at the height of the pandemic, had to be discarded, costing taxpayers four billion euros, according to an analysis by Politico.

Since the first coronavirus vaccines were approved at the end of 2020, EU member states have procured one and a half billion doses, or more than three for each person, and many of them are now lying in landfills across the continent.

Calculations based on available data show that EU countries did not use an average of 0.7 doses per member of their population, which would mean that more than 312 million doses had to be destroyed, but it is not easy to determine exactly how many vaccines were discarded, as governments do not publish this information.

Politico's calculations are based on data from 19 European countries, of which 15 provided precise figures. The passage of time means that these numbers are already outdated and the actual number of unused vaccines is likely much higher.

Germany, for example, provided data in June and at that time there were still 120 million doses of vaccines in storage.

Politico estimates the value of 215 million destroyed vaccines at more than four billion euros based on prices published in the media, as official prices were not disclosed.

For countries that only reported the total number of destroyed vaccines, without specifying the manufacturer, Politico used a weighted average price of 19.39 euros.

Many of these vaccines were purchased at the height of the pandemic in 2021, when the EU, the US, and the UK were struggling to secure as many doses as possible. During that period, the EU entered into its largest purchase agreement for 1.1 billion doses from Pfizer.

That agreement was praised by the EU at the time, but both its size and timing proved problematic.

The repercussions are more than financial, and questions about how the large contract with Pfizer was negotiated have become a problem for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, since the New York Times reported that she had exchanged controversial messages with Pfizer's CEO.