26 million euros is a low price. In any case, according to the Minister of Health Olivier Véran. He defended this Wednesday the “moderate” cost of the State for the services of private consulting firms invoiced during the health crisis, in view of the overall bill of the pandemic, during a hearing in the Senate on Wednesday.
According to the Minister, since the first confinement in March 2020, “54 orders” have been placed by the State for consulting services “in the context of the health crisis” linked to Covid-19, i.e. a bill of 26.79 million euros for public authorities.
30 billion euros spent
This bill is certainly “out of proportion” with the “overall amount of 1.717 million euros committed in 2019 on an equivalent perimeter” (health perimeter), but “the cost of these services remains however moderate with regard to all the expenditure linked to the health crisis, (which amounted to) 30 billion euros between 2020 and 2021”, declared Olivier Véran before the Senate commission of inquiry into the influence of consulting firms on public policies.
Asked in particular about the role of the McKinsey firm, which would have signed contracts with the Ministry of Health for four million euros between March 2020 and January 2021, Olivier Véran hammered that “At no time did McKinsey (him) made a decision in connection with the health crisis or the vaccination campaign”.
No “role in the vaccine strategy”
Remarks consistent with those made by representatives of this cabinet in mid-January, who had defended themselves before the commission of inquiry of any “role in the definition of the vaccine strategy” of France.
The Minister of Health certified that the missions entrusted by the State to the consulting firms were limited to “programming, logistics and crisis information systems”. He also specified that the Ministry of Health had again contracted with McKinsey at the beginning of 2022, “to reinforce the pediatric vaccination campaign”.