ZCZC
BFF-14
EU-VACCINATION-COVID
EU to start vaccination for COVID-19 on Dec. 27
BRUSSELS, Dec 18, 2020 (BSS/XINHUA) – The European Union (EU) will start
vaccination for COVID-19 after Christmas, the bloc’s executive chief Ursula
von der Leyen announced on Thursday.
“It’s Europe’s moment. On 27, 28 and 29 December vaccination will start
across the EU,” von der Leyen tweeted.
The announcement came two days after the European Medicines Agency (EMA)
decided to bring forward a meeting to conclude its assessment of the vaccine
jointly developed by Germany’s BioNTech and America’s Pfizer.
On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for COVID-19,
and a number of EU leaders including European Council President Charles
Michel, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, as well as Secretary-General of
the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Angel
Gurria went into self-quarantine after having lunch with Macron one day
earlier.
According to the website of the World Health Organization, as of Wednesday,
there were 222 COVID-19 candidate vaccines being developed worldwide, and 56
of them were in clinical trials. Enditem
BSS/XINHUA/GMR/0943 hrs