The European Union medicines regulator has granted authorisation for the use of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine.
The approval is the second Covid-19 vaccine given the green light by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) following the approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in December.
“EMA’s human medicines committee has thoroughly assessed the data on the quality, safety and efficacy of the vaccine and recommended by consensus a formal conditional marketing authorisation be granted by the European Commission,” the EMA said.
“This will assure EU citizens that the vaccine meets EU standards and puts in place the safeguards, controls and obligations to underpin EU-wide vaccination campaigns,” the statement continued.
The authorisation is for use in people from 18 years of age and follows trials that included some 18,000 people. The EMA says trials demonstrated a 94.1% efficacy rate.