All EU countries to start vaccination against covid-19 from 27 December

LondonAll EU countries are preparing to start vaccination against covid-19 from 27 December, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed on Thursday. "On 27, 28 and 29 December vaccination will start across the EU," she also wrote on her Twitter account.

This morning, German Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, expressed the same opinion after meeting with the Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of BioNTech, the German laboratory founded by Turkish immigrants that has developed the vaccine marketed by the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is expected to give the green light to the vaccine this Monday, December 21, after the meeting in which it was to evaluate the conditions of effectiveness and safety of the vaccine, initially scheduled for December 29, was brought forward one week. The other countries also want to do this," said the minister. The EMA received strong pressure from EU authorities and states such as Germany and France to proceed with approval as soon as possible without compromising safety.

The pressure became virtually untenable after the United Kingdom, which used an EU emergency regulation to approve it before the EMA, began vaccinating on December 8, and six days later, on December 14, the United States opened its campaign in New York.

The Pfizer decision opens the door for the EMA to also bring forward the meeting, initially scheduled for January 12, where it will evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Moderna vaccine, which could receive final sanction from the US regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, this Thursday.