EU approves Moderna jab amid tensions over slow rollout of vaccines

Move should ease frustrations over low supplies of Pfizer vaccine and EU's longer authorisation process

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The European Medicines Agency has approved the Moderna vaccine, making it the second coronavirus shot to be cleared for general use across the EU, as tensions continued to rise over the slow progress of vaccination programmes in the bloc.

In a move that should ease frustrations over a shortfall in supplies of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab and the EU's longer authorisation process, the Amsterdam-based regulator said on Wednesday it had granted a conditional marketing authorisation for Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine for adults.