A German government ministry has disputed the findings of a previously unpublicized report on the procurement of masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, led by a special investigator, Margaretha Sudhof. The report, which has not been made public, allegedly presents “partially unverified facts” and fails to provide adequate sources to back up its claims, according to the Ministry of Health, led by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
The Ministry stated that the decision to procure masks through the Ministry of Health was reasonable in the exceptional circumstances of the time and that there was no overstocking of masks. The actions of the federal government and the Ministry of Health, led by former Minister Jens Spahn, were based on decisions made by the federal government, its crisis staff, the procurement staff and conferences of the federal chancellors and health ministers.
In a short-term response to the procurement challenge, the government had to rely on logistics companies and the procurement process without a competitive bidding process was deemed reasonable in the exceptional circumstances, according to the Ministry’s statement, supported by Health Minister Nina Warken, a fellow party member of Spahn’s.