Europe’s medicines regulator on Monday authorized Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for conditional use, opening the door to an inoculation program across the European Union, CNBC reports. The vaccine needs to be endorsed by the European Commission before it can be distributed, and a decision is expected shortly. The European Medicines Agency said in a statement Monday that it had recommended granting conditional marketing authorization for the vaccine in people aged 16 years and over. Vaccine authorizations are picking up pace just as European countries tighten their lockdowns amid a deadlier winter wave of virus infections. The coronavirus pandemic has killed nearly half a million people across Europe since it began.

Source: The Standard December 21, 2020 15:31 UTC