News Desk :
Europe’s drug regulator gave the green light to Moderna Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday, the second shot it has approved, as authorities accelerate inoculation efforts amid fears about more infectious variants of the coronavirus.
Vaccinating the European Union’s 450 million people could be crucial to ending a pandemic that has killed almost 1.9 million people globally. The approval comes as countries are racing to contain two variants found in South Africa and Britain that are more transmissible
and have driven a surge in infections.
The EU’s European Medicines Authority (EMA) said it had given the go-ahead for the use of the Moderna vaccine on people aged over 18 following an assessment of the data on quality, safety and efficacy, report agencies.
The final step before it can be rolled out across the European Union is approval by the bloc’s executive body, the European Commission, which is expected to follow soon.
The decision, coming just over a year since the first outbreak of the virus was identified in China, marks the second regulatory authorization for Moderna’s vaccine after the United States, and further validation of new genetic mRNA technology.
“This vaccine provides us with another tool to overcome the current emergency,” said Emer Cooke, EMA executive director.
The EU approved a shot from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, also based on mRNA technology.
The regulator has given a conditional marketing approval for both, rather than the ultra-fast emergency use clearance issued by Britain, which the EMA says requires more detailed study of the data.
Europe’s drug regulator gave the green light to Moderna Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday, the second shot it has approved, as authorities accelerate inoculation efforts amid fears about more infectious variants of the coronavirus.
Vaccinating the European Union’s 450 million people could be crucial to ending a pandemic that has killed almost 1.9 million people globally. The approval comes as countries are racing to contain two variants found in South Africa and Britain that are more transmissible
and have driven a surge in infections.
The EU’s European Medicines Authority (EMA) said it had given the go-ahead for the use of the Moderna vaccine on people aged over 18 following an assessment of the data on quality, safety and efficacy, report agencies.
The final step before it can be rolled out across the European Union is approval by the bloc’s executive body, the European Commission, which is expected to follow soon.
The decision, coming just over a year since the first outbreak of the virus was identified in China, marks the second regulatory authorization for Moderna’s vaccine after the United States, and further validation of new genetic mRNA technology.
“This vaccine provides us with another tool to overcome the current emergency,” said Emer Cooke, EMA executive director.
The EU approved a shot from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, also based on mRNA technology.
The regulator has given a conditional marketing approval for both, rather than the ultra-fast emergency use clearance issued by Britain, which the EMA says requires more detailed study of the data.
