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EU Regulator Authorizes Use Of Pfizer Vaccine

A sign is shown in the window of an office at Pfizer Manufacturing in Puurs, Belgium, on Monday, the same day the European Medicines Agency authorized the use of the company's coronavirus vaccine.
Valentin Bianchi
/
AP
A sign is shown in the window of an office at Pfizer Manufacturing in Puurs, Belgium, on Monday, the same day the European Medicines Agency authorized the use of the company's coronavirus vaccine.

The EU's medical regulator has authorized the use of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. If the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, greenlights the drug, inoculations can start across Europe.

"Now we will act fast. I expect a @EU_Commission decision by this evening," Ursula von der Leyen, the commission's president, said in a tweet on Monday.

"Our thorough evaluation means that we can confidently assure EU citizens of the safety and efficacy of this vaccine and that it meets necessary quality standards," Emer Cooke, the executive director of the European Medicines Agency, said in a statement.

The European regulator authorized the use of the vaccine in people 16 or older, as U.S. federal officials did earlier this month. The U.K., no longer a member of the EU, is also already carrying out inoculations with the Pfizer vaccine.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Merrit Kennedy is a reporter for NPR's News Desk. She covers a broad range of issues, from the latest developments out of the Middle East to science research news.