The bill for the purchase of vaccines, including the disposal of expired doses, amounts to more than €340 million. These are the figures from an audit by the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) of the Slovak Republic on the purchase, storage and disposal of vaccines against the covid disease. A questionnaire, which Slovak auditors used to address the national audit offices of the European Union (EU) member states, showed that the countries involved in the survey had overwhelmingly contracted far more doses than were needed.

"These risks were confirmed not only in our country but also in other EU member states, where the adult population was also given on average less than half of the purchased doses," said Lubomir Andrassy, the head of the auditors, adding that the contract for the supply of vaccines, concluded centrally by the European Commission (EC), was exclusively beneficial for only one contractor, a private company. "This is a prime example of wasteful use of public funds and a prime example of a waste of finances. The Commission's actions should be investigated not only by MEPs but also by European auditors and prosecutors," he added.

The audit results will be communicated to the Slovak Republic's government and parliament, the Prosecutor General's Office, and representatives of the European Public Prosecutor's Office and the European Parliament.

Read the full text of the press release about this issue in Slovak language.