TLTP
\nNEW YORK
\nPfizer and its partner BioNTech have applied for emergency authorisation of their coronavirus vaccine in Europe.
\nThe application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) comes after emergency use was also sought in the US and Britain. In their pursuit of a European launch, potentially this year, the partners are neck and neck with rival Moderna, which also said on Monday it would ask the EU regulator to recommend conditional approval for its shot. Pfizer and BioNTech reported in mid-November that their vaccine candidate was 95 per cent effective in preventing coronavirus, with no major safety concerns. It raises the prospect of US and European approval within weeks.
\nBioNTech can start shipping the first doses \u201cwithin hours\u201d after clearance, the company said. If the EMA concludes that the benefits of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot outweigh the risks, it will recommend granting a conditional clearance that could enable the shot to be rolled out in Europe before the end of the year, the companies said.
\nThe UK, which is poised to become the first country to approve the vaccine, ordered 40 million doses. Approval could be granted as soon as December 7, with an inoculation programme introduced within hours of authorisation.
\nThe US could follow days later with emergency approval granted between December 8 and December 10. The British regulator is also carrying out safety checks on the Moderna and University of Oxford\/AstraZeneca vaccines, but approval for those is expected to come after the Pfizer shot is approved.
\nThe Moderna and Pfizer\/BioNTech vaccines are both based on a new technology that uses mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) to deliver genetic material to the body that makes human cells create a protein from the virus. This trains the immune system to be ready to attack if it encounters coronavirus. But Moderna\u2019s vaccine can be kept in long term storage at -20 degrees, while Pfizer\u2019s requires -70 degrees.
\nMeanwhile, new research suggests more than half of Britons worry that countries may be rushing or bypassing processes in order to lead the vaccine race. The survey of 8,000 people, carried out by polling company Piplsay, also found 73 per cent of Britons backed the Oxford vaccine and were optimistic about its success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TLTP NEW YORK Pfizer and its partner BioNTech have applied for emergency authorisation of their coronavirus vaccine in Europe. The application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) comes after emergency use was also sought in the US and Britain. In their pursuit of a European launch, potentially this year, the partners are neck and neck […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n