Poland will not take or pay for any more COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer

Poland has informed the European Commission and the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer that it will no longer accept nor pay for any more COVID-19 vaccines for now, Poland’s health minister said Tuesday.

The decision to stop taking vaccine doses will set up a legal battle under a supply contract the European Union has negotiated with vaccine manufacturers.

Poland and other EU member nations have been paying for and receiving vaccine doses under agreements between the European Union and vaccine manufacturers such as Pfizer and Moderna. Pfizer is the chief supplier for Poland, Reuters reported.

Currently, the country has 25 million COVID-19 vaccines in storage and another 67 million to 70 million doses on order, according to the private news channel TVN24. But compared to other European nations, Poland has reported a below-average vaccine uptake. Just 59% of the country’s 38 million people have been fully vaccinated, and only 31% have received a booster shot, below the EU average of 72.5% and nearly 53%, respectively.

As such, Poland’s health minister said the country has a surplus of vaccine doses and does not intend to pay for any more.

“We asked both the European Commission and the main vaccine producing companies … to spread these deliveries over 10 years and — most importantly — to pay when we receive vaccines,” health minister Adam Niedzielski reportedly told TVN24 in an interview. – READ MORE