European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a news conference following a EU Summit video conference in Brussels, Belgium, on Nov. 19, 2020. (Photo: Reuters-Yonhap News)
The European Union's top official has said that two COVID-19 vaccines could receive conditional market authorization as early as the second half of December.
Speaking after a meeting of EU leaders Thursday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Pfizer and BioNTech's experimental vaccine and another developed by Moderna could get approval from the European Medicines Agency by end of the year by the "if all proceeds now without any problem."
Von der Leyen said "this is the very first step to be able to be on the market."
The EU commission has sealed deals with several pharmaceutical firms including Pfizer and BioNTech to buy millions of doses of vaccines on behalf of all EU member states.
Von der Leyen said earlier this week the commission hopes a deal with Moderna will be soon finalized.
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