BRUSSELS -
The European Commission defends the vaccine negotiator, Sandra Gallina, from the attacks of the virologist, Roberto Burioni
.
"All the Member States participated in the negotiations, they chose the companies to negotiate with, for which vaccines and how many doses. They were all aware of the budget we had available and they all asked us to increase it to allow for additional contracts", clarifies the spokesperson. for health, Stefan de Keersmaecker.
"We negotiated with and on behalf of the Member States and they agreed at all stages of the process - he highlights -. Several Member States were members of the negotiating group and all 27 were part of the steering committee that guided and monitored the negotiations".
In a series of tweets Burioni had criticized the choice of having obtained a
very low price, comparing the European situation with that of Israel
, where many more doses have arrived in the face of double the cost.
"Israel has paid more than double the European Union for vaccines and has plenty of them. We thank the European Union for having used our tax money sparingly, avoiding unnecessary waste, such as buying a life-saving vaccine - wrote Burioni. , which in another tweet made the dose - we have to say thanks to the Germans who advanced the money otherwise the EU vaccine order did not even start while European citizens were dying (and dying) by the thousands. Crazy stuff. All this makes the EU cry. heart to a pro-European ultras like me ".
Burioni had attacked in particular Gallina, Director General of Health of the European Commission
: "The official who led the EU negotiation for vaccines graduated from the interpreting school and had to deal with health for the first time in July 2020. Before, he was involved in agriculture and fishing. This is not the Europe I want ".
"Professor, nothing personal, but he should do what he preaches: talk only about what he knows," was Gallina's reply on Twitter.
"Operation of the EU and its institutions, EU competences compared to those of the Member States, how the contracts for vaccines have been negotiated are not part of what he knows", underlined Gallina.
