Pfizer CEO pulls out of testifying to EU Parliament Covid panel
politico.eu
politico.eu
> The report, by the European Court of Auditors, found that von der Leyen had been directly involved in preliminary negotiations for the EU's biggest vaccine contract, for up to 1.8 billion doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, which was concluded in May 2021. This was a departure from the negotiating procedure followed with other contracts, where a joint negotiating team made up of officials from the Commission and member countries conducted exploratory talks.
> The EU watchdog also noted that the Commission refused to provide records of the discussions with Pfizer, either in the form of minutes, names of experts consulted, agreed terms, or other evidence.
> Already in 2021, the New York Times reported on the seemingly-cozy relationship between Bourla and von der Leyen, with the two exchanging text messages in the run-up to the deal.
Sleazy.
- ". Other pharmaceutical executives have addressed the committee, including the CEO of Moderna and senior officials from AstraZeneca and Sanofi."
- The 2 months of messages between Mrs von der Leyen and Pfizer seems to vanish in the ether... "EU Commission says it cannot find messages with Pfizer CEO" - https://euobserver.com/eu-political/155377
Let's suspend belief, and assume a technical fault, hit those 2 months of messages between Mrs von der Leyen and Pfizer.
Surely a polite request, in the spirit of transparency from a trusted partner could ask Pfizer for the messages? They are surely still available from their side? The lack of such a request is what is called a "deafening silence".