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 Approval of the Moderna vaccine would be a big boost for Europe's
hopes of curbing a disease that has infected over 85 million people
globally and killed nearly 1.9 million since the first cases were
identified in China in December 2019.
Europe began its vaccination drive on Dec. 27 but it has had an
uneven start as cases continue to surge across the continent and
worldwide, with the World Bank warning that rising infections and
delays in vaccine distribution could limit the global economic
recovery to just 1.6% this year.
Authorities are also scrambling to contain two more infectious
variants of the virus detected in South Africa and Britain which
have driven a surge in cases.
The Dutch government has faced a public outcry after being left
behind in the race to defeat the viral pandemic, and finally
launched its vaccination drive on Wednesday morning.
DuSanna Elkadiri, a 39-year-old nurse who looks after dementia
patients at a care home in the south of the country, received a shot
of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
"This is the beginning of the end of this crisis," Health Minister
Hugo de Jonge said at a brief ceremony.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine used by
the Netherlands had received regulatory approval sooner than
expected and that his government had expected a vaccine developed by
Oxford University and AstraZeneca to be approved first, reducing the
Dutch authorities' flexibility.
So far, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is the only one approved by the
European Medicines Agency (EMA) though Moderna's vaccine -- which is
easier to store and transport -- is expected to become the second to
win its endorsement later on Wednesday.
The roll-out has been a test for Brussels' ability to unify Europe
amid political pressure to speed up the process.
Some EU member states were frustrated at the length of time the EMA
took to decide on the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, leaving it lagging the
United States, Britain, Israel and Switzerland in approving and
administering the first vaccines.
The regulator has given a conditional marketing approval, rather
than the ultra-fast emergency use approval issued by Britain, which
it says requires more detailed study of the data.
The two-dose Moderna vaccine has already been rolled out in the
United States and Canada, and Israel this week become the first
country outside North America to grant authorisation.
It was about 95% effecive at preventing illness in clinical trials
that found no serious safety issues.
GOVERNMENTS UNDER FIRE
China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd has also developed a COVID-19 vaccine,
but Beijing is still taking aggressive measures to prevent another
wave of the disease that has killed 4,634 people in China.
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 Chinese authorities on
Wednesday imposed travel restrictions and banned
gatherings in the capital city of Hebei
province, which surrounds Beijing.
Beijing has sought to reshape the narrative about when and where the
pandemic began, with top officials highlighting studies they say
show the disease emerged in multiple regions. It has also rejected
accusations of wrongdoing or mishandling of the COVID-19 outbreak in
the country.
The head of the World Health Organization on Tuesday said he was
"very disappointed" that China still had not authorised a team of
international experts tasked with examining the origins of the novel
coronavirus into the country.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the two sides
were still in talks about dates and arrangements for the visit.
"There's no need to over-interpret this," she said.
Rolling out a vaccine quickly has not prevented other governments
facing public criticism over their handling of the pandemic.
Although Britain was the first country to approve and start rolling
out the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's
government has been accused by political opponents of indecision
after England began a new lockdown this week.
The British parliament was recalled early to vote on the new
lockdown measures on Wednesday.
The French government has faced criticism after the national
inoculation campaign got off to a slow start, hampered in part by
red tape and President Emmanuel Macron's decision to tread warily in
one of the world's most vaccine-sceptical countries.
France is now stepping up its COVID-19 vaccine rollout and a third
national lockdown should not be ruled out, Eric Caumes, head of
infectious diseases expert at Paris' Pitie-Salpetriere hospital,
told BFM TV.
Germany has decided to extend a nationwide lockdown until the end of
this month and introduce tougher restrictions to try to curb the
spread of the virus.
But Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said he believed Europe's biggest
economy could hold out for a long time, adding that heexpected lower
levels of government debt than after thefinancial crisis of 2008.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaux, Writing by Timothy Heritage, Editing
by Alison Williams)
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