The European Medicines Agency on Wednesday recommended Moderna's coronavirus vaccine for authorization in the European Union's 27 member states.
Why it matters: This is the second vaccine to be granted approval by the regulator. The European Commission — which has purchased 160 million doses of the Moderna vaccine — is likely to issue final approval this week.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that they "are working at full speed to approve it & make it available in the EU."
- The commission approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in December.
The big picture: The EU has been criticized for its slow rollout of the vaccine as cases continue to rise and countries enter a third wave of lockdowns.
- The EU officially began vaccinating with Pfizer-BioNTech shots on Dec. 27, but each country's distribution has been different.
- According to CNBC, Germany vaccinated about 240,000 people in the first week of EU approval, while France inoculated 516 people and the Netherlands had not even started vaccinating.
- The approval of the Moderna vaccine should further help the EU and its 446 million inhabitants resolve some supply issues.
What they're saying: "EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) has thoroughly assessed the data on the quality, safety and efficacy of the vaccine and recommended by consensus a formal conditional marketing authorisation be granted by the European Commission," EMA said in its statement.
