It’s now official! On Monday, December 21, the European Union licensed the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
After receiving the approval from the European Medicines Agency, this vaccine can now be marketed and distributed in the old continent to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. Decryption!
In what order will the vaccines arrive in France?
According to various sources, the vaccination campaign in France should start on December 27. As such, several vaccines are available since the European Union has signed six contracts with several international laboratories including: Moderna, Janssen, AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BionTech. The German laboratory Curverac is also in the running since the vaccine it is developing is at a very advanced stage of research. Its clinical trials are currently in phase 3, which suggests that it will also be licensed by the European Medicines Agency.
As for France’s vaccine strategy, it should be noted that it was unveiled to the general public on December 3 by Prime Minister Jean Castex.
It is divided into three necessary steps spaced a few weeks apart. The main reason is that France is not yet assured of receiving sufficient doses of vaccine for everyone by the end of 2020. In January 2012, about one million French people will be vaccinated. Priority will obviously be given to the most vulnerable people, especially those living in Ehpad. All will receive the vaccine from Pfizer, which will be the only one available in France during this first phase of vaccination.
What about the other vaccines?
The vaccination schedule unveiled by Mr. Castex stipulates that the other vaccines will only come into effect in France from February 2021. But before then, they will have to obtain an authorization necessary for their marketing, delivered by the European Medicines Agency.
The first is Moderna, which is scheduled for validation on January 6, 2021. In February 2021, at least five other vaccines will also appear, including those of Janssen and AstraZeneca, which are currently undergoing what is known as a “rolling review”. This means they are both subject to ongoing clinical review, which speeds up the process of validation and commercialization.
Nearly 2 billion doses reserved by the European Union
The European Union has reserved about 2 billion doses of vaccine. Their distribution will be done according to the population of the Member States. With more than 60 million inhabitants, France should receive 15% of the total available doses.
It should be noted that the vaccine doses ordered by the EU are distributed as follows:
- 300 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine (with an option of 100 million additional doses)
- 300 million doses of the vaccine developed by Sanofi
- 200 million doses of Pfizer/BionTech vaccine (with an option for an additional 100 million doses)
- 160 million doses of the vaccine developed by Moderna
- 200 million doses of Janssen vaccine (with an option for an additional 200 million doses)
- 225 million doses of the German Curevac vaccine (with 180 million doses as an option)
