COVID-19: EU authorises Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine, inoculation to begin from Dec 27

The European Union on December 21 authorised the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, with the first phase of the bloc’s mass inoculation programme to begin later this week. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said that it was recommending the shot be licensed for use in people over 16 years of age with some exceptions. In a press briefing, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen called the latest move “an important chapter” in the EU’s fight against COVID-19 and added that the vaccine will now be available for all EU countries at the same time and on the same conditions. 

Von der Leyen said, “The European Medicines Agency (EMA) assessed this vaccine thoroughly, and it concluded that it is safe and effective against Covid-19. As we have promised, this vaccine will be available for all EU countries, at the same time, on the same conditions”. 

“This is a very good way to end this difficult year, and to finally start turning the page on Covid-19,” she added. 

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Vaccinations to begin from Dec 27 

Von der Leyen informed that the first batches of the vaccine would be shipped from Pfizer’s manufacturing site in Belgium in the next few days, with vaccinations starting on December 27. Further, she added that the EU drug regulator would deliver their verdict on Moderna’s vaccine on January 6, potentially giving Europe a second tool with which to battle the unprecedented pandemic early in the new year. 

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According to CNN, Harald Enzmann, who is the chair of the EMA’s Committee for Medical Products for Human Use (CHMP), said that the agency realised that the speed at which the vaccine has been authorised has been a “cause of concern”. However, he added that the data that the EMA has analysed and the assessment of the data have met the standards for “robustness and quality”. Enzmann also added that people should continue to keep wearing masks, socially distance and wash their hands, given that vaccine trials haven’t been able to give scientists a clear picture of how vaccines affect transmission. 

Meanwhile, the EU authorisation of Pfizer vaccine comes as a new strain of coronavirus has been detected in countries across Europe. With over 1,000 cases of the variant discovered in the UK, scientists are puzzled to determine if the variant, named as VUI-202012/01, falls into which category or if it represents an increased health risk especially when some nations began administering the COVID-19 vaccines among people. On Monday, the EMA’s head of Anti-infectives and Vaccines Marco Cavaleri said that it was “really too early” to say if the new variant of the virus would compromise the strength of the vaccine, but that “for the time being we are not worried”. 

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