The latest hearing in the Pfizergate scandal has been postponed until 6 December by a Belgian court to give parties additional time to examine certain aspects of the case, a decision likely to be a relief for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is currently busy on the campaign trail ahead of the June EU elections.
In April 2021, the New York Times broke the ‘Pfizergate’ story, revealing that von der Leyen had negotiated a contract for 1.8 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses during the pandemic with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla through mobile phone texts that remain undisclosed to this day.
In June 2022, the European Ombudsman concluded that the contract negotiation was a case of ‘maladministration’.