Coronavirus: Thread

[grarpamp]

Such convenient...



EU President 'Can't Find' Texts With Pfizer Chief Discussing COVID-19 Vaccine

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eus-von-der-leyen-cant-find-texts-with-pfizer-chief-vaccine-deal-letter-2022-06-29/

In April 2021, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen
revealed that she had been texting with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla for a
month straight while they were negotiating a massive contract for
Covid-19 vaccines.

Now, they're gone.

According to Reuters, "in response to a public access request by a
journalist because of the importance of the deal, the Commission did
not share the texts, triggering accusations of maladministration by
the EU’s ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly."

"The Commission can confirm that the search undertaken by the
President’s cabinet for relevant text messages corresponding to the
request for access to documents has not yielded any results," said EU
justice commissioner Vera Jourova in a letter to O'Reilly, an EU
watchdog.

    In the letter, the Commission argues that text messages do not
need to be registered and stored because they are treated as
“short-lived, ephemeral documents”. The same exception to the general
registration requirement applies to documents with no important
information, the letter said.

    A spokesperson for the ombudsman said that it planned to publish a
detailed analysis on the matter in the next couple of weeks. -Reuters

In an April 2021 NYT interview, von dery Leyen said she negotiated the
'biggest contract ever sealed for COVID-19 vaccines' via text messages
and calls, resulting in the EU committing to purchase 900 million
Pfizer-BioNTech jabs, with an option for 900 million more down the
road. By the time the deal was formally announced in May 2021, the EU
had already secured a wide range of vaccines from several
manufacturers - including another 600 million doses from Pfizer.

Many of the EU governments who initially backed the deal are now
trying to renegotiate or cut supplies of the Pfizer jab amid cratering
vaccination rates and concerns over waste.