Coronavirus Notebook: EU Publishes AstraZeneca Vaccine Contract, Implements Export Authorization Scheme

 
• By Ian Schofield

The AZ vaccine gets the regulatory go-ahead for use in the EU and the European Medicines Agency says an analysis of data on Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty has shown no new safety concerns.

Close-up image of a firm handshake between two colleagues after signing a contract
A COVID-19 vaccine contract has led to a high-profile dispute in the EU • Source: Shutterstock

Three events dominated the coronavirus headlines in Europe on Friday: the publication of the European Commission’s contract with AstraZeneca for the supply of its COVID-19 vaccine to the EU, the European Medicines Agency’s decision to recommend centralized approval of the vaccine, and a new mechanism to curb vaccine exports from the EU. The EMA's opinion on the vaccine was quickly converted by the commission into an EU marketing authorization.

Alongside these developments came news that another vaccine, from US company Novavax, had shown 95.6% efficacy against the original strain...

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