EU could approve AstraZeneca vaccine by end-January: EMA

The EU's medicines regulator said Friday that a decision to authorise the use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford coronavirus vaccine could be made by the end of the month.

The announcement came with the bloc under pressure to speed up the rollout of vaccines against the virus, which has claimed the lives of more than 600,000 people across the continent.

The Amsterdam-based European Medicines Agency said it was expecting AstraZeneca to submit a conditional marketing application for the vaccine next week.

"Possible conclusion—end of Jan, depending on data and evaluation progress," it said in a tweet.

The agency approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in December and the Moderna jab on Monday.

Approval of the shot developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University "will of course depend on the data we receive and the evaluation progress", EMA chief Emer Cooke told a videoconference.

"Once we actually receive the application, we will make a public announcement on this," Cooke added.