Third Covid vaccine applies for European approval

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca submitted an official application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to approve its coronavirus vaccine. The EMA hopes to evaluate the vaccine before the end of the month. The Netherlands will get 11.7 million doses of this vaccine.

The AstraZeneca vaccine, developed in cooperation with the University of Oxford, is the third Netherlands-backed vaccine to apply for EMA approval. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was approved in December and was used in the Netherlands for the first time on Wednesday. The Moderna vaccine was approved last week, and is expected to be distributed here soon.

The European Union ordered over 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, of which the Netherlands will get 11.7 million spread through this year. Like the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, this one also requires two doses. So the Netherlands can inoculate 5.8 million people with its share of the European order.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is already in use in the United Kingdom, according to NOS. The country reported that it was 70 percent effective after the first dose, and that it also protects against serious Covid-19 symptoms. Late last month, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soirit said that they've "found the winning formula" and that it was 95 percent effective.