European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Monday that she was authorizing the distribution in the EU of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID vaccine, hours after the green light from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
“The European Medicines Agency has evaluated this vaccine thoroughly and concluded that it is safe and effective against COVID-19. On the basis of this scientific evaluation, we proceeded to its authorization on the European Union market ”, declared Von der Leyen, specifying that the first vaccinations would take place between 27 and 29 December.
The President of the Commission said she was “proud that the first vaccine against Covid-19 available in Europe is a pure product of European innovation”. It was designed by the German laboratory BioNTech, based in Mainz.
The EU executive had promised that it would give its authorization within two days of the green light from the EAJ, but the process was speeded up.
“The Commission, the Member States and the company (BioNTech) are now working for a delivery of the first doses on December 26,” the Commission said in a statement.
Deliveries will then continue in December and the next few months, reaching 200 million doses by September 2021.
Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health warned that the arrival of the vaccine was not a miracle solution, because the doses will remain limited at first. “We must continue to respect the recommended measures and protect ourselves,” she insisted.
She also defended restrictive measures during the holidays, when contamination figures are on the rise in many member states. “This is not the time to lighten the measures (…), we must avoid a possible resurgence of cases after the end of the year,” said Ms. Kyriakides.
“More vaccines will be approved soon if they are found to be safe and effective,” Von der Leyen promised. “The AEM will give its evaluation on a second vaccine, that of Moderna, on January 6,” she said.