European Union agency OKs Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, 1st shots expected in days
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — The European Union drug regulator has recommended the BioNTech-Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for use.
The move Monday raises hopes that the 27 nations in the bloc can begin giving the shots shortly after Christmas.
The European Medicines Agency approval comes weeks after the same vaccine was first authorized in Britain and the United States.
That prompted pressure from EU governments for the agency to speed up its process as virus cases surged again across the continent.
The approval needs to be rubber-stamped by the EU’s executive branch, a move its chief said is likely to happen Monday evening.
