NIK — gross failure to buy vaccines

According to the portal medexpres.pl in the ultimate Control Chamber's assessment, part of the decision to acquisition COVID-19 vaccines was grossly uneconomic. The checks carried out by NIK besides showed a deficiency of reaction or reactions delayed by 1 year to signals about quality defects in 2 batches of preparations which hit the Polish market.

The ultimate Audit Board assessed the National Vaccination Programme, whose strategical nonsubjective was to accomplish the level of inoculation of society, allowing the pandemic to be mastered by the end of 2021, while maintaining the highest safety standards.

With respect to the inspection carried out at the Ministry of Health, the auditors established that the head of the ministry had decided to join 7 contracts to acquisition vaccines against COVID-19, which allowed the contract of 201 million doses of vaccines with an estimated value of little than PLN 14 billion. The ultimate Chamber of Control assessed the contracting of parts of vaccines with an estimated value of PLN 8.4 billion.

– The reason for this assessment was that the Minister of Health, despite the contract of 109 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines at the end of April 2021, which already allowed respective vaccinations of the full Polish population, concluded 3 further contracts from May to November 2021 for the acquisition of an additional 92 million doses of COVID 19 vaccine, with an estimated value of PLN 8.4 billion. According to NIK, these measures had to be assessed as grossly uneconomic. The decision to acquisition the contested doses of vaccines was made by the Minister of wellness himself, despite having information that the rate of vaccination is decreasing," said Michał Jędrzejczyk, NIK president's advisor, during the presentation of a study on the issue.

The ultimate Chamber of Control besides pointed out that, as explained by the Ministry of Health, joining 1 of the 3 contested contracts was for political and not substantive reasons. The COVID acquisition squad did not urge the acquisition of this manufacturer's vaccine, including its technology.

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