Moderna Inc. vaccine won. Covid-19 backed by EU drug regulator, clearing the way for a second weapon in the blockade to stop the pandemic.
The European Medicines Agency made the recommendation on Wednesday. The The European Commission is working “at full speed” on the final clean-up phase, President Ursula Von Der Leyen said in a tweet.
There is increasing pressure on EU leaders to accelerate the clean-up and use of vaccines of virus recovery across the continent. The 27-nation bloc began vaccination last week with the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, but the speed of their distribution has been uneven, prompting an unfavorable comparison with the UK and US
France had vaccinated less than 10,000 people so far, compared to more than 300,000 in Germany, putting a lot of pressure on President Emmanuel Macron to speed up their use. Compared to the US, the vaccine is in excess of 5 million people, and Britain has more than 1.3 million.
More than 15 million donated: Covid-19 vaccine detector
The EMA advised giving two injections 28 days apart, without getting into controversy about whether it is appropriate to wait longer to get the vaccine for more people. In an effort to protect wider population oaths, some U.S. officials have also proposed cutting the dose in half – another controversial issue that has not been addressed by the EU body.
The Moderna vaccine attenuated Covid-19 in 94% of volunteers in a large clinical trial. None of the people who received the bullet in that trial other than the placebo developed severe disease. It was agreed in the US on December. 18. Moderna shares rose 2.7% on Wednesday before U.S. exchanges opened.
Like the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Moderna is based on messenger RNA technology that has not been used previously in vaccines. It is easier to carry and use, however. Can be kept at a constant temperature of cooling for up to month but ultra-cold storage is required for Pfizer-BioNTech product.
How mRNA vaccines work
Vaccination stimulates healthy cells to produce viral proteins that stimulate a strong immune response
Sources: Pfizer, Bloomberg research
“This vaccine provides us with another tool to overcome the current crisis,” Emer Cooke, executive director of the EMA, said in a statement. “We will closely monitor data on safety and The effectiveness of vaccination to ensure the continued protection of the EU population. Our work will always be guided by the scientific evidence. “
The EU recently announced that it would encourage choice for an additional 100 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, increasing the total number from the companies to 300 million. They are also negotiating a deal that could be as big as twice that, people familiar with the talks said Tuesday.
The block has ordered 160 million doses of the vaccine Moderna, the company said last month.
The Moderna Covid-19 vaccine.
Photographer: Saul Martinez / Bloomberg
Moderna is likely to start delivering doses within the next week, according to German health minister Jens Spahn. The EMA’s approval “gives us more confidence,” Spahn said in a press conference ahead of the official announcement. Germany expects to receive more than 130 million doses of vaccine once the Moderna and BioNTech scenes are removed, he said – enough to protect 65 million people, or about three-quarters of the crowd.
Photos from AstraZeneca Plc and Oxford University are also expected, though a few weeks before they get approval. After the EMA said last week that it had not received enough information to review the Astra-Oxford vaccine, Astra submitted a “substantial” data package and he said he would work closely with the EMA to support the start of a formal application process.
More restrictions
Vaccines are thought to be the ultimate weapon against the coronavirus, which has captured more than 86 million people worldwide and killed more than 1.87 million. But getting shots into people’s arms is a huge logical challenge and will take months, leaving governments with little choice but to impose restrictions on public life to keep the pathogen from spreading. spread out of control.
Britain, Germany and Italy announced tougher measures to keep the spread of the virus this week.
– Supported by John Lauerman, and Leonard Kehnscherper
(Updates with reference from the German health minister in the 10th paragraph)