The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech Covdi-19 vaccine for use in the European Union.
The decision was announced by the EMA at an online press conference held this afternoon and comes after clinical trials involving 40,000 participants. EMA Chief Emer Cooke told the conference that "today's positive news is an important step forward in our fight against this pandemic, which has caused suffering and hardship for so many."
The EMA said that the trials saw a 95% reduction in the number of symptomatic Covid-19 cases in the people who received the vaccine compared with people who received a 'placebo' injection. The news paves the way for people in Ireland to begin receiving the vaccine, with the process set to begin in the EU between December 27 and 29. Germany, Austria and Italy have said that they plan to start the vaccination process on December 27.
Ms. Cooke also stated that the vaccine would protect against the new strain of Covid-19 that has been found in Britain and has led to a
travel ban being announced by the Irish Government.
Final approval by the European Commission is expected this evening.
(header pic: Shutterstock)
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