유럽의약품청 "화이자 코로나19 백신 승인 여부 29일까지 결정"<br /><br />The EU's drug agency says it may need a few more weeks to approve its first COVID-19 vaccine.<br />If approved,... Pfizer's vaccine could be the first one to get rolled out before the end of the year.<br />Lee Seung-jae reports.<br />The European Medicines Agency says it may need four more weeks to approve its first COVID-19 vaccine for use in the EU.<br />The announcement comes as the agency plans to convene a meeting by December 29th to decide if there's enough safety and efficacy data on the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech.<br />Once approved,... BioNTech says the vaccine could be available before the end of 2020.<br />However,... watchers say that's unlikely,... as the EU Commission usually needs to rubber-stamp the regulator's decision.<br />While the U.S. is pushing for a mid-December approval,... officials in Europe are being cautious,... saying vaccination programs likely won't start until the end of the year.<br />French President Emmanuel Macron says he's aiming for late December or early January.<br />"In all likelihood, we envisage between around late December or early January a first vaccination campaign that will be very targeted, with first-generation vaccines for which we have little perspective, whose conditions of storing and logistics are quite complex..."<br />He added that, in all likelihood,... a second round of vaccinations would start in April or June,... and would be available to the general public.<br />Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine, which has been shown to be 95-percent effective,... has already been submitted to regulators in the U.S. and Britain.<br />Hospitals in the U.K. have been told they could receive the first doses as early as next week.<br />Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.<br />
