European Commission dismisses criticism that it “overslept” on vaccine procurement

Speaking to EU Parliamentarians on Tuesday, Director General of the European Commission for Health and Food Safety Sandra Gallina defended her institution’s procedure on procuring COVID-19 vaccines after criticism from some German Parliamentarians and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who has stated that the Commission “overslept” on the issue.

Ms. Gallina said that the joint union-wide effort to procure the vaccine secured greater leverage than any individual state could have had. Problems related to vaccine production prove that the European Commission was right not to rely on a single producer and the maximum possible number of vaccines was procured, she said.