EU lawmaker warns of risks from UK "hasty" approval of Pfizer COVID vaccine

Britain's emergency approval of the experimental COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is "problematic" as it was done too hastily, a prominent European Union lawmaker said on Wednesday.

"I consider this decision to be problematic and recommend that EU Member States do not repeat the process in the same way. A few weeks of thorough examination by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is better than a hasty emergency marketing authorisation of a vaccine," said Peter Liese, an EU lawmaker who is a member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party.