Belgian Court Orders Poland, Romania to Pay 1.9B Euros for Vaccines

A Belgian court ruled on Wednesday that Poland and Romania must fulfill their obligations under a European Union contract to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, ordering the two countries to take delivery of remaining doses and pay a combined 1.9 billion euros.

The Brussels Court of First Instance issued the decision in a case filed by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech in late 2023. The ruling requires Poland to accept vaccine doses valued at 1.3 billion euros and Romania to take doses worth 600 million euros. The court rejected arguments from both nations that sought to terminate the agreement, finding no evidence of irregularities in the public procurement process or abuse of dominant position by Pfizer. It also determined that the decline in COVID-19 infections and the war in Ukraine did not justify altering the contractual terms.

The dispute stems from a 2021 agreement negotiated by the European Commission on behalf of EU member states during the height of the pandemic. The deal committed countries to buying specified volumes of vaccines over several years to ensure a unified response and equitable distribution. As infection rates fell in 2022, Poland declined to accept...