Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. EU Approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID Vaccine VOA News The European Union has given official approval for the coronavirus vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer, while the United States began distributing a second COVID-19 vaccine developed by U.S.-based drugmaker Moderna. The EU's executive commission authorized the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine across the 27-nation bloc, after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said the inoculation meets quality and safety standards. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said deliveries of the vaccine are scheduled to start Saturday, with inoculations beginning across the EU Dec. 27-29. "This is a very good way to end this difficult year and to finally start turning the page on COVID-19," she said of the disease caused by the coronavirus.