Corona vaccine: EU is speeding up approval – politics

Until now, there has always been talk of December 29, but now things could go faster with the approval of the first Covid-19 vaccine in the EU: a special meeting is planned for December 21, he announced on Tuesday for the late the European Medicines Agency EMA. “If possible”, they want to complete the exam. If necessary, the date originally announced December 29 should be kept, the message said.

Political pressure on the EMA not to allow the vaccine from the Biontech and Pfizer companies until December 29 had recently increased significantly. The German Hospital Association also sees no good reason to postpone the start of vaccinations in the EU any longer. Its president, Gerald Gaß, told the Germany publishing network on Tuesday that Europe should try to “create” an emergency license before Christmas so that vaccines can be administered in nursing homes before the holidays, for example.

Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) said the approval before Christmas on Tuesday is good news for the entire European Union. Every day before I help “prevent suffering”. As for the additional schedule, he said that after approval, the “batch release” will come from the Paul Ehrlich Institute, after which the manufacturer will try to ensure speedy delivery. Consider that “a maximum of two to four days after the start of vaccination.”

Spahn again defended that approval in the EU takes longer than in Great Britain, Canada or the United States, where the first people were vaccinated. “We have said from the beginning that we are not doing an emergency license, but a proper license.” The EMA delves “into the data” of what would be the case with an emergency approval. When it comes to vaccination, nothing is more important than people’s trust in the vaccine; especially when it comes to a new vaccine, some are reluctant. Considering the added value that the “first adequate global clearance” brings, a difference of two weeks can be justified at the start of vaccination.

EMA employees had explained the expedited approval procedure, which is currently under discussion, during a public hearing last Friday. Therefore, it includes more experts than usual, so it takes a little more time for coordination. Observers, however, rate the EMA assessment as particularly detailed, especially with regard to side effects that may also be related to previous illnesses of those vaccinated. In Great Britain, for example, there were serious side effects in two cases because the vaccine recipients were highly allergic. Such allergic reactions are not uncommon with vaccines; they are often caused by auxiliary substances. British authorities are now asking people with severe allergies not to get vaccinated for now.

The fact that the process is longer in the EU than in Britain or the US, for example, is due not only to in-depth examination but also to the fact that the authorities of the member states are included in the process. approval of the EMA. “Here we have resolved that we will all hurry,” Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) said on Friday after the summit of EU heads of state and government.

Theoretically, national approvals would also be possible in EU countries. However, member states have opted for central approval, also so that the vaccines are available in all countries at the same time. Spahn said it is also about solidarity within the EU. They have jointly invested in production and research, secured vaccination doses together, and are now doing approval together.

Peter Liese, health policy spokesman for the Christian Democrats in the EU Parliament, spoke of another advantage that the EMA procedure brings: “The European approval provides for corporate responsibility. This is not the case with the approval of emergency”. Quick approval in the United States and Great Britain is politically necessary and has nothing to do with the quality of the respective authority.

Despite the prospect of vaccination beginning soon in Germany, Spahn snuffed out hopes Tuesday that the infection situation in this country would improve very quickly. “Even an emergency stop will have a long slip mark,” he said, referring to the strict lockdown that will take effect in Germany on Wednesday.