E.U. regulator is considering Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine
LONDON — The European Medicines Agency said AstraZeneca and Oxford University have submitted an application for their Covid-19 vaccine to be licensed across the European Union.
In a statement Tuesday, the E.U. regulator said it has received a request for the vaccine to be greenlighted under an expedited process and that it could be approved by Jan. 29 during an EMA meeting, “provided that the data submitted on the quality, safety and efficacy of the vaccine are sufficiently robust and complete.”
The drugs agency for the 27-nation E.U. has already approved two other coronavirus vaccines, one made by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech and another by Moderna.
Britain gave its approval to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine last month and has been using it. India approved it this month.
Bodies pile up at crematorium in Germany's virus hot spot
MEISSEN, Germany — The caskets are stacked three high in the Meissen crematorium's somber memorial hall, piled up in empty offices and stored in hallways. Many are sealed with plastic wrapping, others are labeled “infection risk,” “urgent” or simply “Covid.”
A surge of coronavirus deaths in this corner of eastern Germany has boosted business for crematorium manager Joerg Schaldach and his staff, but nobody is celebrating.
“The situation is a little bit tense for us at the moment,” Schaldach said as another undertaker's van pulled up outside.
The crematorium would typically have 70 to 100 caskets on site at this time of year, when the flu season takes its toll on the elderly.
“It’s normal for more people to die in winter than in summer," said Schaldach. "That’s always been the case.”
Now he has 300 bodies waiting to be cremated and each day dozens more are delivered to the modernist building on a hill overlooking Meissen, an ancient town better known for its delicate porcelain and impressive Gothic castle.
On Monday, Meissen county once again took the unwanted lead in Germany's Covid-19 tables, with an infection rate three times the national average. The state of Saxony, where Meissen is located, includes six of the 10 worst-hit counties in Germany.