The President of the European Commission (EU), Ursula von der Leyen, said this Friday she hoped to have the BioNThec/Pfizer vaccine for covid-19 authorized by the end of the year.
“We aim to have the BioNThec / Pfizer vaccine authorized by the end of the year, depending on the opinion of the EMA ( European Medicines Agency ),” he said.
The president of the community executive, who was speaking at the final press conference of the European Council, said that the EMA’s opinion on the Moderna vaccine should be released in mid-January, with Oxford and AstraZeneca continuing to be studied.
However, he stressed, “it is vaccination and not vaccines that save lives”, calling on Member States to finalize preparations for the launch of vaccination programs.
“We are ready to support”, he said.
The outgoing president of the Council of the European Union (EU) had already said, at the same press conference, that one of the priorities of her successor, António Costa, will be the “European Health Union”.
The presidency Portuguese the EU starts on January 1, for a period of six months.
The covid-19 pandemic caused at least 1,570,398 deaths resulting from more than 68.8 million cases of infection worldwide, according to a report by the French agency AFP.