European Medicines Agency, the European Union’s health authority, has recommended Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine be granted conditional approval throughout the EU.
"EMA has recommended granting a conditional marketing authorisation for COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna to prevent Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in people from 18 years of age," the EMA wrote in a statement.
The announcement marks the second vaccine given a recommendation for clearance in the 27-nation European bloc, after having already approved one manufactured by Pfizer and BioNTech.
“This vaccine provides us with another tool to overcome the current emergency,” said Emer Cooke, executive director of EMA.
With the approval recommendation from the EMA, the Moderna vaccine will be subjected to approval by the EU’s executive commission. Cooke insisted that the recommendation comes after a deliberative process from the EMA, noting a clinical trial of approximately 30,000 participants proved the efficacy of the Moderna vaccine.
“As for all medicines, we will closely monitor data on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine to ensure ongoing protection of the EU public," Cooke said. "Our work will always be guided by the scientific evidence and our commitment to safeguard the health of EU citizens.”
The EMA's announcement comes as the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on the European continent. According to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker, the leading European nation in terms of number of diagnoses is the United Kingdom (which recently finalized plans to exit the EU) with more than 2.78 million reported cases.
