On Wednesday the EUropean Medicines Agency (EMA) announced it had approved the Moderna vaccine in the fight against Covid-19. It follows approval last month for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that is in the process of being rolled out across the EU. The final authorisation for the Moderna vaccine will need to be granted by the EU Commission.

Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen described the announcement as "good news". "Now we are working at full speed to approve it and make it available in the EU," she added. The approval also clears the vaccine for use in Norway and Iceland, which are signed up to the EU's procurement scheme.