The Hague (AFP)

The European Union on Monday gave the green light to the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, paving the way for the post-Christmas launch of vaccinations in the 27 member states.

Calls for rapid decision-making had increased after the UK and US granted emergency clearance for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine several weeks ago.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) cleared the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine earlier on Monday, also saying there is no evidence that it is not effective against the new strain of coronavirus, detected primarily in the UK.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said vaccinations would start on December 27 across the EU, adding that the vaccine is a "true model of European success".

"It is a very good way to end this difficult year and finally to start turning the page on Covid-19," Von der Leyen said in Brussels on Monday.

The German Minister of Health Jens Spahn estimated that the decision of the EMA makes it possible to "come out of the crisis", while his Italian counterpart Roberto Speranza spoke of a "news that we expected".

- "Historical scientific success" -

The Amsterdam-based EMA had brought forward a meeting initially scheduled for December 29, in which it announced its decision, by a week, as Germany and several other countries pushed for a quick clearance.

"This is an important step forward in the fight against this pandemic causing suffering and hardship," EMA Director General Emer Cooke said on Monday during an online press conference. .

"This is really a historic scientific achievement, in less than a year, a vaccine will have been developed and authorized against this disease," she added.

The EMA has granted a one-year "conditional marketing authorization" for the vaccine, developed by the American giant Pfizer and the German company BioNTech, the European Commission signing in the hours that followed.

The emergency surrounding the virus has intensified with the emergence of a new, rapidly spreading variant of the coronavirus, reported mainly in the United Kingdom.

This discovery has led many states to suspend flights from this country.

Emer Cooke added on Monday that there is as yet "no evidence" to suggest that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine would not protect against the new strain of the coronavirus.

- Public confidence -

EMA vaccine strategy manager Marco Cavaleri said that pending more data, the agency "is not too worried."

In recent weeks, several states have complained that the EMA's decision-making delay they consider too slow, after a European summit in which the Polish and Hungarian leaders called on the agency to press not.

Berlin strongly supported the calls launched by Hungary and Poland for a faster decision and the EMA then brought forward the date of announcement of its decision by eight days, especially after the emergency green light granted by several countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States.

The agency had stressed that the United Kingdom and the United States had only given a temporary green light.

In the EU, the conditional authorization to market the vaccine requires a more rigorous testing procedure and is valid for one year, the EMA also said.

Ensuring public confidence in the vaccine is also "paramount" at a time when skepticism and misinformation are rife, a source familiar with the matter told AFP.

© 2020 AFP