The first COVID-19 vaccines could be distributed in the EU in 2021



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“I think optimally [pirmieji skiepijimai galėtų prasidėti] “Andrea Ammon, director of the Stockholm-based European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), told the AFP news agency in the first quarter of next year.”

An EU source told AFP on Tuesday that any vaccine could be approved for use in the Community from “early 2021”. This prediction was made after the announcement that a vaccine developed by the US pharmaceutical group Pfizer and its partner in Germany, BioNTech, was 90% effective in phase 3 clinical trials.

“Of course it is promising,” Ammon said, but cautioned that so far the message had only been issued as “a press release, not [mokslo] in a peer-reviewed article, so we have to see what the final evaluation will be. “

Any vaccine distributed in the European Union must be approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The European Commission announced on Wednesday a contract with Pfizer and BioNTech to acquire $ 200 million. doses of their vaccines with the option of ordering another 100 million. dose.

Ammon said the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe was “very, very worrying” and that everything indicated that “we are moving in the wrong direction at the moment.”

At least 311,000 people have died in Europe since the start of the pandemic. people of more than 13 million. infected with coronavirus. The second wave of COVID-19 epidemics is currently hitting many countries.

Ammon assumed that “in the current situation, it may take longer to reduce [kasdien registruojamų užsikrėtimo] than the first wave of coronavirus in Europe in March and April.

He called on Europeans to adhere to the restrictions and measures implemented by their countries to help control the spread of the virus, “no matter how difficult it is.”

“They must understand that it is crucial for them to contribute to the management of the epidemic through these measures,” Ammon said.

EU Health Commissioner Stela Kiriakides reiterated Wednesday that the pandemic would not end immediately after vaccines began.

“We need to understand that once we have a safe and effective vaccine, it will not be a silver bullet that will make COVID-19 disappear overnight,” he told reporters.

“Even when a safe and effective vaccine … is available, it will be necessary to continue [suvaržymo] measures until reaching a significant part of the population ”, emphasized Kiriakides.



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