Vlad Voiculescu's reaction after Romania lost the Pfizer vaccine trial. Who are they accusing?
The former Minister of Health, Vlad Voiculescu, says on Wednesday that the court's decision regarding vaccines was predictable and, even if it is not final, it further weakens Romania's position in the ongoing process, writes News.ro.
Vlad Voiculescu states that he got here because, in 2023, “Romania aligned itself with Orbán's Hungary and with the far-right Poland” and refused the negotiation offered by Pfizer and the European Commission, which offered the possibility of exiting the contract. Voiculescu also announces that the Bolojan Government has done what should have been done since 2023 – “gave the Minister of Health a mandate to urgently negotiate with Pfizer”.
“In 2023, Romania aligned itself with Orbán's Hungary and far-right Poland. Now it pays several hundred million euros more and approx. 150,000 euros a day in interest for this decision. When the European Commission and Pfizer offered all member states a negotiated exit from the contracts for COVID-19 vaccines, re-scaling, volume reduction, flexibility, twenty-four countries accepted. Three have refused: Viktor Orbán's Hungary, Poland then led by the extreme right, and Romania, where Messrs. Rafila and Ciucă rejected any negotiation without even offering an answer to the Pfizer proposal,” former Minister of Health Vlad Voiculescu wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
According to him, “now comes the payment bill”.
“A court in Brussels recently forced the Romanian state to take over almost 29 million doses of vaccine and pay 564,341,953.50 euros plus interest. The decision is not final – but it was predictable, and further weakens Romania's position in the ongoing process. The interest according to Belgian law is 8-12% annually. Each year of delay costs between 50 and 60 million euros. From 2023 and until today: approximately 3 years. In a simple calculation, the interest exceeds 150,000 euros per day”, says the former USR Minister of Health.
Voiculescu also claims that Romania is the only country in the EU where you cannot get vaccinated against COVID even if you want – from mid-2024 onwards.
In all other member states the vaccine is free and available.
The former minister explains, in a detailed post, how he got into this situation:
May 2021: Prime Minister Florin Cîţu decides Romania's participation in the European joint purchase contract. Amount assumed: 39 million doses. Pfizer made massive and unprecedented investments to build a production line in Europe at the request of member states – acting as a collective insurance policy against the pandemic.
January 2022: Minister Alexandru Rafila signs the Order Form for the ~39 million doses – an act of implementation of an already existing obligation. Also in 2022, the same minister Rafila suspends any vaccine deliveries.
May 2023: Pfizer and the European Commission come up with the flexibility proposal. Romania – along with Hungary and Poland – chooses not to respond. The other 24 states negotiate and escape.
February 2024: Pfizer files the action in court in Brussels.
Voiculescu also explains the fact that Romania did not buy more vaccines than other countries, but even bought fewer vaccines than the European average.
“Romania and Poland bought fewer doses per capita than all the big countries – Germany, France, Italy, Spain – and also recorded the lowest vaccination rates in the EU”, says the former minister.
It also shows that Romania did not pay more: The price of 19.50 euros/dose negotiated at the EU level was the lowest price for this vaccine in the whole world.
“Prime Minister Florin Cîţu decided on all the purchases of vaccines from 2021. Minister Rafila signed the order form in January 2022 – an act of implementation of an obligation already assumed – and later suspended the deliveries,” Voiculescu said.
He believes that the former PSD Minister of Health Alexandru Rafila should answer the question why Romania has not used any vaccine in recent years.
“The last joint purchases of anti-COVID vaccine at the European level were made in October 2025 (14 participating countries) and in January 2025 (17 participating countries, 146 million doses available). Romania did not participate in any of them,” Voiculescu claims.
He believes that the only solution that Romania has is to negotiate with Pfizer.
“The Bolojan Government did a few weeks ago what the Ciucă Government should have done a few years ago: it gave the Minister of Health a mandate to urgently negotiate with Pfizer and reach an agreement. It is late, but it remains the only responsible thing to do. And, as it would be responsible for Pfizer to be open in this case, I don't think any of the parties can afford anything else,” Vlad Voiculescu said.
He also explains the fact that he was dismissed on April 14, 2021, a month before the signing of this contract.
