European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla exchanged texts for a month before the largest COVID-19 vaccine contract was signed by the European Union (EU)..The texts have not been released and the European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly said it is affecting the public’s trust and the problem will not disappear.. Pfizer CEO .“We need to hear what went on. Otherwise, it’s going to drag on,” said O’Reilly in an interview with Reuters..The EU public prosecutor has an ongoing investigation into the “acquisition of vaccines” and the European parliament’s COVID committee continues to hold hearings.."So it just won't go away,” said O’Reilly..During a New York Times interview in April 2021, Leyen revealed the text exchange with Bourla, which prompted calls for the exchange to be released to the public..In June 2022, the EC said it did not have the texts anymore and O’Reilly criticized the EC for not keeping them..“It’s the gift that keeps on giving to people who are hostile to the EU and who are anti-vax, because it can feed into the narrative that something is being hidden,” said O’Reilly.. Pfizer COVID-19 vaccineCourtesy CBC .Last year, O’Reilly said the EC “stonewalled” her requests for the text messages leading up to the EU signing a contract with Pfizer and BioNTech for 1.8 billion doses to be published..An EC spokesperson told O’Reilly that the text messages were not “eligible” for freedom of information requests under transparency rules. The texts do not qualify as an EU document.."In an effort to ensure greater certainty, the Commission is working on issuing guidance on modern communication tools such as text and instant messages," the EC spokesperson told Reuters. .The EU ombudsman report findings are not binding. However, the report spurred greater scrutiny by other EU institutions. .In a special hearing in October 2022, the EU Parliament members vented their anger when Bourla refused to appear, causing the members to threaten to ban Pfizer employees and lobbyists from entering the EU Parliament.
