*Background music*
[VO] The Dutch government was ill-prepared
to buy vaccines
at the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It had to act in a hurry.
What did it do?
The Court of Audit
has investigated the country’s response.
The first reports arrive from China
about a new infectious disease: COVID-19.
COVID-19 reaches our country,
the first fatality is reported a week later.
The virus will ultimately take the lives
of tens of thousands of people in the Netherlands.
Restaurants, bars and schools close their doors.
The first lockdown takes effect a week later.
Health minister Hugo de Jonge
presents an action plan
to buy as many safe and effective vaccines
as quickly possible.
A vaccines team is set up
and talks are held with potential manufacturers.
The Netherlands joins forces
with Germany, France and Italy
to sidestep the European Union’s
bureaucratic decision-making.
Rich countries compete for vaccines.
The Netherlands joins in,
but also tries to help vulnerable countries.
The four cooperating countries
provide manufacturer AstraZeneca
with funds to develop a vaccine.
The European Commission takes over the negotiations
but the Netherlands gains a place at the table.
Talks are sometimes haphazard
but there are no serious slipups.
The Netherlands helps increase the EU budget
so that contracts can be signed for several vaccines.
It is not known which will be safe and effective.
The Netherlands works hard
to strike an agreement with Janssen.
The minister prefers its vaccine
because it is made in the Netherlands.
Nevertheless, Pfizer becomes the main supplier:
its vaccine works well and can be supplied quickly.
It’s more expensive but that’s not so important.
The crisis would cost a lot more
without good vaccines.
Vaccinations are available to everyone
in the Netherlands.
In total, the country buys 102 million vaccines
at a cost of nearly 1.8 billion euros.
Janssen and AstraZeneca run into supply problems.
The European Commission
signs another deal with Pfizer
to supply vaccines in the future.
More vaccines are contracted
than are actually necessary.
EU president Ursula von der Leyen
conducted the negotiations herself,
the negotiating team was barely involved.
The Netherlands donates
more than 200,000 AstraZeneca vaccines to Suriname.
In total, 23 million injections
are donated to 21 vulnerable countries.
It’s a drop in the ocean globally,
but at least it helps a little.
Our audit found that the Netherlands
was not prepared for a pandemic,
but the Ministry of Health’s actions
to buy vaccines were successful.
Together with the European Union,
the Netherlands bought enough effective and safe vaccines
to lift it out of the crisis.
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