The EU's medicines watchdog on Thursday approved Valneva's anti-Covid jab, Europe's sixth green-lit coronavirus vaccine, which uses more traditional technology than others on the market which the firm hopes will reduce jab hesitancy.
The French-Austrian drug maker's jab is the sixth vaccine to be approved within the 27-nation bloc and contains inactivated particles of the original coronavirus strain that cannot cause an infection.
"EMA has recommended granting a marketing authorisation for Covid-19 vaccine Valneva for use in the primary vaccination of people from 18 to 50 years of age," the Amsterdam-based agency said.
"After a thorough evaluation, EMA's human medicines committee (CHMP) concluded by consensus that the data on the vaccine were robust and met the EU criteria for efficacy, safety and quality," the Amsterdam-based agency said.
Last month the European Commission said it intended to axe an agreement to buy Valneva's vaccine as it had not yet received marketing authorisation.
The EU's executive arm had signed a deal to buy up to 60 million doses of the VLA2001 vaccine in 2022 and 2023.