BRUSSELS is discussing with Pfizer and BioNTech the possibility of reducing the 500 million Covid-19 vaccine doses the European Union (EU) has committed to buy this year in return for a higher price, a source said.

Also on the table was an extension of the delivery deadline to the second half of 2024, said the source, who requested anonymity as the talks were confidential.

The negotiations are ongoing, and it is not clear what the final outcome may be.

The discussions come amid a global glut of Covid-19 shots, and relate to the biggest contract for vaccines the EU has signed.

A spokesperson for the European Commission called on vaccine-makers to work with the body and EU member states to “ensure that the agreements reflect the changing situation”. 

The Commission would continue with the view of “adapting the supply of vaccine doses over the years to come, and to extend it over a (longer) time period”, the spokesperson said, declining to comment on pricing or other details.

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While a Pfizer spokesperson declined to comment on the details of the discussions, the company has shown ongoing commitment to accommodating the concerns of EU member states.

Regarding prices, the spokesperson said: “We have always had a tiered-pricing approach for the Covid-19 vaccine, guided by agreed volumes and national income tiers to ensure equity between agreements with countries with similar economic profiles.”

A spokesperson for BioNTech said the company would “continue to work with the European Commission and governments to find pragmatic solutions, while respecting the fundamental principles” agreed upon by the parties involved.

Global glut

Though the excess of Covid-19 vaccines is an issue worldwide, Europe is contending with a particularly large glut of them. 

Most of the people in the EU who wanted a primary course of the Covid-19 vaccine, as well as those who were later eligible for boosters, have received it. The EU’s drug regulator in November said that the uptake of booster doses had been disappointing.

In May 2021, Brussels signed a contract with Pfizer and BioNTech to buy 900 million doses, with an option for an additional 900 million, by the end of 2023.

Around half or more of the first 900 million doses from that contract have not yet been delivered because demand for them dropped last year. The EU has not exercised the additional option.

Of a total population of 450 million, 328 million people in the EU have received the primary course of a vaccine, reported online publication Our World in Data.

The talks over the unwanted doses are the latest in a series of negotiations over changes to the 2021 contract. Brussels is under pressure to cut the volume as EU member states complain of strained budgets and no desire to spend money on unneeded doses.

At 19.50 euros (S$27.87) per dose in the May 2021 contract, the amount that European governments are contractually obligated to pay this year totals between 7.8 billion euros and 9.8 billion euros.

It is unclear what the renegotiated price in Europe could be. In the United States, Pfizer is hoping to charge a list price of US$110 to US$130 per dose in the fall, though that price does not include discounts.

For months, EU officials have said that there was a mismatch between the supply of and demand for Covid-19 vaccines.

EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in December: “We are no longer at the peak of the crisis and this directly impacts our demand for vaccines, while public finances are under great strain at this moment.”

She added: “Our vaccine contracts need to take the current situation into account, and companies should show flexibility on that.”

Last summer, the vaccine-makers and the EU agreed to pause deliveries to give the bloc’s member states time to administer what they had already received. The move came after EU governments warned Pfizer and other companies that millions of doses could go to waste.

In November, they signed an amendment that gave countries the ability to have doses delivered and stored in warehouses – another sign of the supply glut. REUTERS