Germany seeking EU COVID vaccine approval 'before Christmas'

BERLIN — Germany said on Tuesday it wanted the European Union to approve the BioNTech/Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine "before Christmas", as calls grow for the EU health regulator to speed up its decision process.

"The goal is to get approval before Christmas," German Health Minister Jens Spahn told a press conference in Berlin. "We want to start vaccinating in Germany before the end of the year."

The European Medicines Agency said on Tuesday it had moved forward a meeting to decide on authorisation for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by more than a week to December 21.

The announcement of a change to the previous date of December 29 came after mounting pressure on the regulator from European countries desperate for a vaccine, particularly Germany.

The Amsterdam-based agency said it had received "additional data" from the company on Monday that was requested by the EMA committee that examines medicines for human use.

"An exceptional meeting of the [committee] has now been scheduled for 21 December to conclude if possible," the EMA said in a statement.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the announcement, saying it meant vaccinations would likely start before the end of the year.

“Every day counts — we work at full speed to authorise #COVID19 vaccines that are safe and effective,” she said on Twitter.

Spahn’s growing impatience had become clear in a series of tweets on Sunday, in which he said the European vaccine delay could undermine confidence “in the European Union’s ability to act”.

The German Hospital Association has likewise expressed concern about the time taken by the EMA to validate the vaccine.

Spahn has nevertheless defended Berlin’s decision to stick with an EU-wide approval process for all 27 member states rather than going it alone and granting emergency use authorisation on a national basis.

‘Summer 2021’ 

Opting for a European approach “is also about strengthening trust in the vaccine”, the minister told reporters.

“We want a thorough review, we want a proper authorisation and at the same time we want a swift review,” he added.

Berlin’s irritation is more acute as BioNTech is a German firm and the country is preparing to go into partial lockdown from Wednesday, with non-essential shops and schools to close.

Germany coped relatively well with the first wave of the coronavirus in the spring, but it has struggled to contain a resurgence in COVID-19 cases in recent months.

Last week saw a record high of nearly 30,000 new infections in one day, with the number of deaths also rising steadily.

Spahn told German television on Monday that once the product has been approved, he wants to vaccinate around 60 per cent of the population by the end of summer 2021.