Moderna and Pfizer want more money from Brussels

The US companies Moderna and Pfizer, which produces Biontech's Covid vaccine Comirnaty, have raised the prices of their mRNA vaccines in negotiations with the EU, according to a report in the Financial Times. The cost of a dose of Comirnaty has risen from 15.50 euros to 19.50 euros, and Moderna's Spikevax now costs 21.50 euros instead of 19 euros. An unfavourable development in every respect, commentators conclude.

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L'Echo (BE) /

Finally act globally

Europe is partly to blame for the developments, L'Echo criticises:

“After spurning Covax for months, the US has planned to ship 500 million doses. ... The EU Commission will have distributed 200 million doses by the end of 2021. These figures are judged to be grossly inadequate, so some countries that are worse off do not want to wait any longer for the promised gift, even if it's for free. As a result, Rwanda has now negotiated directly with Pfizer. ... The corporation is clearly one of the big winners in this mess, which is starting to cost us dearly. It's up to us to limit the costs by seeing the pandemic for what it is: global.”

Le Temps (CH) /

This is how conspiracy theories are reinforced

The Covid rebels will feel vindicated, Le Temps complains:

“A constant refrain heard from supporters of conspiracy theories is: The pandemic is a Machiavellian plan by the powers that be, who are secretly trying to destroy our freedoms and make billions by selling dangerous products. ... And now they can shout: 'We were right, the world is run by profiteers!' Because that's how it always is with conspiracy theories: they take a piece of verified information and integrate it into their own delirious concoctions as if it were supporting evidence. In the process the previous, now outdated nonsensical theories are astutely forgotten, like the one about the 5G chips that are supposed to be contained in the vaccines.”