Scandal emerges as Romania is stuck with some 40 mln Covid-19 vaccines it has to buy

The minister of health, Alexandru Rafila, stated on Tuesday, April 19, that the ministry had the opportunity last year to refuse the purchase of new doses of vaccine, but in May 2021 it accepted to buy some 40 million doses in 2022 and 2023.

Prime minister Nicolae Ciucă said on Wednesday, April 20, that the Ministry of Health carries out an ongoing analysis on this topic, News.ro reported.

Former prime minister Florin Cîțu, the head of the Government when the Executive accepted to buy vaccines apparently in excess of the necessary, defended himself, claiming that the decisions were taken by the European Commission.

"We can investigate [EC President] Ursula von der Leyen to see what she had in mind when she made this contract with the whole European Union." The former minister of health, Ioana Mihăilă, stated that, during her term, whenever new orders for Covid-19 vaccines were approved, she decided to order the minimum number that the agreements allowed. "In my term, the surplus of Pfizer and Moderna was sold on time (...), and the money went to the state budget," she added.

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