The European Medicines Agency (EMA), the European Union’s medical regulator, has recommended the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for distribution in the European Market, allowing EU nations to begin vaccinations within days.The agency originally scheduled December 29 as the day to review the vaccine for emergency use, but pressure from Germany — which holds the rotating EU presidency — and other nations prompted it to move more quickly.The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, must now give its approval to the vaccine, which at this point is a formality. From her Twitter account shortly after the EMA announcement, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen called it “a decisive moment in our efforts to deliver safe and effective vaccines to Europeans.”Von der Leyen went on to say vaccinations would begin across EU member nations December 27-29.Meanwhile, Britain, the United States and Canada have been using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for several days. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave its approval for a second vaccine from U.S. drugmaker Moderna late last week. The EMA is scheduled to consider that vaccine the first week in January.
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