The BAG was sloppy when purchasing the vaccines

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In total, the vaccination application against Covid 19 cost the taxpayer 11.15 million francs. But something clearly went wrong when purchasing the tool in question – this is the conclusion of the report of the Swiss Federal Audit Office SFAO.

The report gives the BAG bad marks because many things remain incomprehensible to the SFAO. The reason for this is the lack of complete documentation about the purchasing process. Financial Control admits that this is at least partly due to the special situation and the great time pressure in the middle of the pandemic.

Incomplete documentation and high prices

The actual purchase of the tools costs 950,000 francs. Due to the high urgency, the BAG has shortened the official tendering route. The order for the app went to the companies Onedoc and Soignez-Moi without an official tender.

The cantons themselves are responsible for such tenders. Due to the urgency of the time, the BAG agreed to take on this tender. Many cantons accepted the offer. The cantons of Bern and Zurich, on the other hand, opted for their own system.

The later maintenance cost of the tool is the much larger part of this deal. The BAG signed contracts with the two companies in July 2021. In the case of Onedoc for an amount of CHF 4.3 million. In the case of Soignez Moi, for a total of 5.9 million.

Fixed amounts of half a million were invoiced over a period of several months. This despite the fact that the services must be contractually invoiced on the basis of the amount of work. The BAG could not conclusively explain from which specific services these amounts were paid. However, the SFAO report concludes: “The daily rates offered for development, translation and support services are between 1,500 and 2,000 francs in the industrial sector as high.”

Nepotism at the BAG?

A possible conflict of interest also causes commotion. In 2020, the head of “Digitization Covid-19” had to be replaced at short notice – an external employee took over. This employee is, as it turns out later, a former business partner of the then manager of Soignez-Moi. In addition, the two business partners are in outside companies.

It is not clear from the SFAO report whether or not this apparent conflict of interest was disclosed before the contract was awarded.

“Extraordinary crisis situation” is to blame

The BAG points out that it has a competence center for such tenders. There, procurement specialists would ensure that all specifications and processes are adhered to. However, in this case, several eyes were probably squinted.

“It should be noted that the procedure for the vaccination IT solution was due to the extraordinary crisis situation and no conclusions can be drawn about the BAG’s usual procurement procedures,” the BAG defended in the statement on the SFAO report. (sq)

Source:Blick