By Sara Rančigaj (Nova24tv)
In today’s statement for the media, the president of LMŠ Marjan Šarec announced the constitutional accusation of Prime Minister Janez Janša, because he is convinced that the state did not order the vaccine BioNTech and Pfizer in the second round of procurement last December. “It is a matter of direct reimbursement to citizens and a violation of the constitution in the part that speaks about the right to health care,” he said. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has already responded that this is misleading the public, as Slovenia ordered all quantities of the vaccine through contractual capabilities in December, but not the entire option from AstraZeneca and BioNTech/Pfizer.
In today’s statement for the media, the president of LMŠ Marjan Šarec announced a constitutional accusation of Prime Minister Janez Janša, because he is convinced that the state did not order the vaccine BioNTech and Pfizer in the second round of procurement last December. “It is a matter of direct reimbursement to citizens and a violation of the constitution in the part that speaks about the right to health care,” he said despite not checking whether the said information was in fact true.
According to Šarec, the LMŠ wonders whether not ordering any dose of the vaccine is due to “speculations with prices”, as it is known that the vaccine of BioNTech and Pfizer is more expensive, “or whether it is due to the wish to extend the epidemic indefinitely”. “This is a direct harm to citizens, it is also a violation of Article 51 of the Constitution, which speaks of the right to health care, so we in LMŠ will use all the means available to us to fight for the rights of citizens,” he said.
He described the vaccination strategy as ineffective, and reproached Janša that he was looking for the culprits everywhere else, but not where he should be looking. At least ten MPs may file a constitutional accusation against the Prime Minister in the National Assembly. Šarec believes that the entire opposition will be united “and that it will be shown in the National Assembly who cares about the citizens and who does not”.
Slovenia has fully used the possibility of purchasing the contractual quantity of BioNtech and Pfizer vaccines
In the first phase, Slovenia took a full advantage of the possibility of purchasing the contractual quantity of BioNtech and Pfizer vaccines. However, in the autumn, counting on the vaccine from the manufacturer AstraZeneca, which, at the time, was the longest in terms of technological development, and was expected to enter the market at the end of November 2020, Slovenia did not opt for the option to order. After the change of department in December 2020, Slovenia additionally ordered the maximum possible extra quantities of vaccines at the beginning of 2021.
Thus, today we have 936 thousand doses from the first contract, 912 thousand doses from the contract on the first additional quantity, and we are still waiting for the contract for a new additional quantity of 410,700 doses of vaccine from BioNtech and Pfizer. Slovenia used all its pro rata possibilities, except for two initial option orders (Moderna and BioNtech and Pfizer), as it was counting on the almost forthcoming deliveries of AstraZeneca vaccine at the end of December 2020 or at the beginning of January.
Gantar does not remember that Slovenia could order additional quantities of vaccine
Former Minister of Health Tomaž Gantar told STA today that in the autumn he was not informed that Slovenia could order additional quantities of Pfizer and BioNTech vaccines. Namely, the orders were decided by the then commission at the Ministry of Health, which also prepared a vaccination strategy. According to Gantar, the Commission apparently decided at the time not to purchase additional quantities of the vaccine because they expected the AstraZeneca vaccine to be approved earlier.
Janša has already responded to the media’s accusations and explained that in December he ordered all officials at the Ministry of Health to order a vaccine at any price wherever possible, while Šarec is targeting speculation with prices. “No member has ordered too few vaccines. We ordered 7 million doses of vaccine for 2 million people. The problem occurred because one of these companies is not supplying the quantities it should. And it does not suffer any sanctions for that,” Janša further explained.
The Prime Minister also assured that Slovenia had solved all the losses we had due to the delay in the delivery of AstraZeneca vaccine. “That is why we are among the best EU countries today in regard to vaccination,” he added, which was also confirmed by the Minister of Health Janez Poklukar. “If the representatives of the Levica and LMŠ were here today, they would be talking less nonsense than usual,” Janša said, while attending a virtual meeting on the supply of vaccines with European Council President Charles Michel and other heads of state. In regard to that, Poklukar said that it is necessary to stand together in the fight against the epidemic, as many have already done.