BRUSSELS, July 10 (KUNA) -- The European Parliament on Friday adopted a new regulation by 505 votes to 67 and 109 abstentions that will allow COVID-19 vaccines and treatments to be developed more quickly.
Developing and deploying an effective and safe vaccine against the virus is the most likely permanent solution to stop the pandemic, said the EP in a press release.
Clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines are a time-consuming step before authorization, as they need to be carried out in several EU member states to ensure the populations for whom the vaccines are intended are represented and to generate robust and conclusive data, it noted.
To this end, the European Commission has proposed an EU vaccines strategy for COVID-19 including a temporary derogation from certain rules for clinical trials.
Some COVID-19 vaccines and treatments already being developed may be defined genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and are thus covered by the relevant EU rules on GMO.
As national requirements to assess the environmental risks of clinical trials on medicinal products that contain or consist of GMOs vary considerably across EU member states, a derogation from these rules is needed to avoid significant delay in developing life-saving vaccines and treatments, it added. (end) nk.mb