European Medicines Agency authorizes Pfizer vaccine for use in the EU

Europe’s medicines regulator on Monday authorized Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for conditional use, opening the door to an inoculation program across the European Union.

Europe is on track to start vaccinations within a week, regulators said, and authorities in several EU countries including France, Italy, Austria and Germany have said they aim to begin inoculations on Dec. 27.

The European Medicines Agency said in a statement Monday that it had recommended granting conditional marketing authorization for the vaccine in people ages 16 years and over.

In a statement, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) chief Emer Cooke also reassured people that the existing vaccine can work against the new variant of the novel coronavirus — a claim nobody had made till now.

"At this moment there is no evidence to suggest this vaccine will not work against the new variant," Cooke said in a press conference.

Source:

https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-receive-authorization-european-union

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/21/european-medicines-agency-authorizes-pfizer-vaccine-for-use-in-the-eu.html

https://www.wionews.com/world/it-works-against-new-variant-too-eu-approves-pfizer-biontech-coronavirus-vaccine-351418