유럽의약품청 "화이자 코로나19 백신 승인 여부 29일까지 결정"

The EU's drug agency says it may need a few more weeks to approve its first COVID-19 vaccine.
If approved,... Pfizer's vaccine could be the first one to get rolled out before the end of the year.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
The European Medicines Agency says it may need four more weeks to approve its first COVID-19 vaccine for use in the EU.
The announcement comes as the agency plans to convene a meeting by December 29th to decide if there's enough safety and efficacy data on the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech.
Once approved,... BioNTech says the vaccine could be available before the end of 2020.
However,... watchers say that's unlikely,... as the EU Commission usually needs to rubber-stamp the regulator's decision.
While the U.S. is pushing for a mid-December approval,... officials in Europe are being cautious,... saying vaccination programs likely won't start until the end of the year.
French President Emmanuel Macron says he's aiming for late December or early January.
"In all likelihood, we envisage between around late December or early January a first vaccination campaign that will be very targeted, with first-generation vaccines for which we have little perspective, whose conditions of storing and logistics are quite complex..."
He added that, in all likelihood,... a second round of vaccinations would start in April or June,... and would be available to the general public.
Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine, which has been shown to be 95-percent effective,... has already been submitted to regulators in the U.S. and Britain.
Hospitals in the U.K. have been told they could receive the first doses as early as next week.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.