25.8 C
Nicosia
Friday, March 29, 2024

Latest News

Powered by:

Europe set to approve COVID-19 vaccine in Christmas week

Relevant News

Europeans are set to start getting coronavirus vaccines before the new year after the regional drug regulator accelerated its approval process following the launch of immunisation campaigns in the United States and Britain.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said an expert panel would convene on Monday, Dec. 21, to evaluate the vaccine made by U.S. company Pfizer and German partner BioNTech. It had previously said the meeting could be as late as Dec 29.

While EMA’s mandate is to issue recommendations on new medical treatments, the European Commission has the final say on approval and typically follows EMA’s advice.

EMA said its expert meeting was brought forward after the companies had provided more data, as requested, and the EU Commission would fast-track its procedures to rule on approval “within days”.

Germany should start giving coronavirus shots 24 to 72 hours after the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine gets EU approval and could begin as soon as Christmas, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Tuesday.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen echoed those sentiments by saying on Twitter “(It is) Likely that the first Europeans will be vaccinated before end 2020.”

Germany, France, Italy and five other European states will coordinate the start of their vaccination campaigns, the countries’ health ministers said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

Rising infection rates and tighter lockdown measures in many European nations have added to the pressure on the EMA to act as quickly as possible and cast a shadow over the Christmas celebrations.

The EMA added any approval would come with a safety monitoring plan, manufacturing controls, an investigation plan for use in children and binding obligations by the manufacturers to provide more efficacy and safety data.

Britain was the first to approve the shot for emergency use on Dec. 3, followed by Canada on Dec. 9 and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Dec. 11.

BioNTech reiterated it was on track deliver 50 million doses globally this year, for 25 million two-dose courses needed for immunisation.

(Reuters)

Follow in-cyprus on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.