Baltic countries call on EU to approve pre-authorized distribution of AstraZeneca vaccine

  • 2021-01-24
  • BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS – Prime ministers of the three Baltic countries on Friday called on the European Union’s (EU) institutions to approve distribution of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine before its formal authorization.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte reported that the prime ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia joined the call made by Denmark, Greece, Austria and the Czech Republic earlier this week.

“Prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania join Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece and Denmark in their call on EU institutions to approve and ensure pre-authorized distribution of AstraZeneca’s vaccine immediately. Precision of procedures matters. But so does speed. Delays cost lives,” Simonyte wrote on Twitter.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has said that the decision on conditional approval of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca in tandem with the Oxford University could come by January 29. Previously, the European Commission approved the vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.

The vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the Oxford University is cheaper to make and easier to store and transport.