EMA, which acts as a network for the member states' own pharmaceutical authorities, has to decide whether Astra Zeneca's vaccine can be used safely on a large scale, and there is great interest in the announcement.
Astra Zenecas is one of four vaccines approved by the EU, accounting for about a quarter of the total number of doses purchased by the Union.
In other words, a continued halt could be a major obstacle to Member States' vaccination plans.
The vaccine is also cheaper than the variants from, for example, Pfizer / Biontech and Moderna, which means that a negative message can hit extra poor countries hard.
- Some of them have been waiting for Astra Zeneca and have chosen not to use so much of the other vaccines.
A negative message would be a killing blow, says David Boati.