The EU has authorized Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, making it the second shot available in Europe

• The European Commission on Wednesday authorized Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, after it was recommended by the EU's vaccine regulator.
• The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it had "thoroughly assessed" data related to the vaccine's quality, safety, and efficacy.
• This makes it the second COVID-19 shot to be authorized in the EU.
• The EMA authorized Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 shot in December.

The European Commission on Wednesday authorized Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for use, after it was recommended by experts from the EU's vaccine regulator earlier that day.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA), which assesses vaccines for use within the EU, recommended authorization of the vaccine for people aged 18 and over.

This makes it the second COVID-19 shot to be authorized in the EU.

—Stella Kyriakides (@SKyriakidesEU) January 6, 2021

The EMA gave emergency use authorization to Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine on December 21, and the first shots were distributed later that week.

In a statement about the Moderna vaccine, the EMA said it had "thoroughly assessed the data on the quality, safety, and efficacy of the vaccine."

"This vaccine provides us with another tool to overcome the current emergency," Emer Cooke, the regulator's CEO, added.

The EMA will continue to monitor data on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, he added, and said the agency's work "will always be guided by the scientific evidence and our commitment to safeguard the health of EU citizens."

The European Commission has ordered 160 million doses of Moderna's vaccine so far.

Stella Kyriakides, the European commissioner for health and food safety, said that "more [vaccines] will come."

"Our efforts will not stop until vaccines are available for everyone in the EU," she added.

The FDA approved Moderna's vaccine for emergency use in the US in December.