FRANKFURT: Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are in a tight race to launch their COVID-19 vaccines in Europe after both applied for emergency EU approval on Tuesday, though there was uncertainty over whether a rollout could begin this year.
The applications to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) came a day after Moderna sought emergency use for its shot in the United States and more than a week after Pfizer and BioNTech did the same.
US drugmaker Pfizer and its German development partner BioNTech said their vaccine could be launched in the European Union as early as this month. “We can start to deliver within a few hours (of an approval),” said Sierk Poetting, head of operations and finance at BioNTech. “We have been stocking up. And everything that is there can really be distributed within a few hours.”
The EMA clouded the timeline, however, when it said it would complete its review for that vaccine by December 29 at the latest, and for Moderna’s shot by January 12.
It added its schedule may be subject to change as its evaluation proceeds. The European Commission, the EU executive body, said it would likely give its final authorisation for a vaccine’s rollout days after a recommendation by the EMA. An effective immunisation is seen as the main weapon against the pandemic, which has claimed more than 1.4 million lives and ravaged economies across the globe.
— AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
