The decision requires final approval from the European Commission, a process that occurred swiftly with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population. The European Medicines Agency’s expert committee unanimously recommended the vaccine to be used in those 18 and over, though concerns had been raised this week that not enough data exist to prove it works in older people, and some countries indicated they may not give it to the elderly. The shot is the third COVID-19 vaccine given the green light by the European Medicines Agency after ones by Pfizer and Moderna. The EMA’s decision requires final approval from the European Commission, a process that occurred swiftly with the other vaccines. With trials showing about 60% efficacy, the vaccine appears to offer less protection than ones already authorized, but experts have said any vaccine with an efficacy rate of over 50% could help stop outbreaks. The agency recommended the vaccine’s use by older people, despite limited data regarding its efficacy in people over 55, citing the immune responses seen and experience with other vaccines. “At least some protection is expected,” Bruno Sepodes, of the EMA’s expert committee, said Friday at a briefing. He acknowledged that “the exact level of protection cannot be estimated for the time being.” Many countries on the continent have been struggling to vaccinate people as quickly as Britain, Israel, the U.S. and elsewhere, and it was long hoped that the AstraZeneca shot would help speed things up at a time when countries face surging cases in a pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 400,000 people in the 27-nation bloc. The EU bet heavily on the shot, which is cheaper and easier to handle than some other vaccines, with orders for 300 million doses to be delivered after authorization and options for another 100 million doses. “None of them is a magic wand on its own, but together they provide tools and options to prevent different aspects of the disease,” said Emer Cooke, the head of the EMA. The AstraZeneca vaccine has been authorized for use in all adults in other countries, even though only 12% of the participants in its research were older than 55 and they were enrolled later, so there hasn’t been enough time to get results.
