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The quick approval of the vaccine was a real historic achievement, EMA CEO Emer Cooke said Image caption: The quick approval of the vaccine was a real historic achievement, EMA CEO Emer Cooke said

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has given the green light for the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to be rolled out within the EU. The Amsterdam-based regulator brought the decision forward by eight days under pressure from EU states, after the UK and the US approved the jab more quickly.

This is not a silver bullet, EMA Director Emer Cooke conceded, but she said recommending the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use across the EU was "a step in the right direction... providing citizens have enough confidence to get vaccinated".

With millions of people's health at stake, the EMA described the approval of a vaccine within 11 weeks rather than a year as an historic achievement.

Some 43,000 people were involved in one of the largest trials ever conducted; the EMA's human medicines committee concluded the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks.

With regards to the effectiveness against mutated strains of the virus, EMA scientists say it is very likely the vaccine will retain protection against the new variant detected in England.

The decision paves the way for EU countries to start rolling out their mass vaccination programmes within days.