'In Europe before the end of 2020': Pfizer-BioNTech files for EU approval of coronavirus vaccine

US pharma giant Pfizer along with German company BioNTech have applied for EU regulatory approval for coronavirus vaccine, the company said today.

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Pfizer-BioNTech submitted an application "for Conditional Marketing Authorisation (CMA)" after declaring that the vaccine was 95 per cent effective against COVID-19.

The company said if approved it could be rolled out "in Europe before the end of 2020". 

The European continent has registered over 400,000 deaths with UK, Spain, Italy and Germany being the worst-hit countries, in the past few months the virus has impacted eastern Europe as well with several countries now under partial lockdown as the battle a second wave.

The UK which is set to emerge from a lockdown on December 2 has decided to impose strict tier 3 lockdown in much of the country as it battles the virus. 

However, the French government allowed shops to open ahead of the busy Christmas holidays with businesses hit on a large scale due to the virus. Belgium which has been hit hard due to the virus in recent months has also allowed shops to reopen from today.

Germany which has so far been successful in combating the virus has seen a surge in cases with economy minister Peter Altmaier declaring that Germans still has "three or four long winter months ahead."

Moderna had earlier said it was filing for "emergency authorization" of its vaccine in the United States and Europe after it said the vaccine was estimated to be 94.1 per cent effective.

Moderna said it expects approximately 20 million doses of the vaccine to be ready in the US by the end of this year. The United States is the worst-hit country with over 267,000 coronavirus fatalities and 12 million cases.

The death toll due to the virus worldwide has reached 1.4 million with over 60 million infected.