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reApparently, the Covid-19 vaccine from Mainz-based pharmaceutical company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer is supposed to be approved in Europe by Christmas. The FAZ learned this from government circles. The Reuters news agency and the newspaper “Bild” had previously reported that the European Medicines Agency Ema wanted to approve the vaccine on December 23. As a result, vaccination could start in Germany this year. In conversation is December 26, 2020.
Official approval of the vaccine is not granted by Ema, but by the EU Commission. She had previously promised 24 hours for this.
A spokeswoman for Ema confirmed that the authority would decide on approval by December 29 at the latest. Also, he did not want to comment. At Biontech no comments were initially available.
The authority is under great pressure
Recently, Ema has come under increasing pressure from EU governments to accelerate the approval of the corona vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer. Reuters learned from various insiders on Monday that pressure has increased since emergency approvals in Britain and the United States. Ema had announced that it would make a decision no later than December 29. However, the vaccine is already being administered in the United Kingdom and the United States. What had in it
The EU sparked a debate about why a vaccine developed in Germany is used so late.
Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) also felt the mounting pressure and recently changed his position. Until now, it had followed the line supported by all EU states: that it would be better if the EMA examined more thoroughly than the British and American authorities. It has sounded different since the weekend. Referring to the British and US approvals, Spahn tweeted that “all the necessary data” on the Biontech vaccine was available. These would have to be reviewed “as quickly as possible” by Ema.
On Tuesday, Spahn told the federal press conference that it was good news that the vaccine could be approved in the European Union on December 23. However, he did not want to confirm the date, as he had not received any separate information from Ema on the approval date. He read the news in the media as if the date of December 23 had been confirmed. He has no other information booth.
Two weeks ago, Biontech and Pfizer submitted an application to Ema for conditional marketing authorization for their Covid-19 vaccine. Currently, the vaccine is considered one of the most promising means of containing the corona pandemic. Worldwide, more than 1.6 million people have died from or with the virus.
