The European Union’s drug regulator, European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Wednesday, 6 January approved the United States-based Moderna’s COVID-19 shot, making it the second vaccine candidate to be given emergency approval in the 27 nations of the EU, according to AFP.
Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine was approved by the regulator in December.
The current vaccine approval comes for people over the age of 18. According to AP, EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke said in a statement, “This vaccine provides us with another tool to overcome the current emergency.”
The Moderna vaccine’s approval comes amid harsh criticism of the pace of inoculation across the nations of the bloc, and a surging rates of infections in several EU countries.
In a tweet, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed the move and said, “Now we are working at full speed to approve it & make it available in the EU.”
Highlighting the side-effects of the vaccine, the EMA listed “pain and swelling at the injection site, tiredness, chills, fever, swollen or tender lymph nodes under the arm, headache, muscle and joint pain, nausea and vomiting,” as the most common complaints, according to AP.
Cooke has also stressed that their “work will always be guided by the scientific evidence and our commitment to safeguard the health of EU citizens.”
(With inputs from AP and AFP)
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