BRUSSELS — The EU's medicines regulator committee is meeting on Wednesday to decide whether to authorize a second coronavirus vaccine developed by biotechnology company Moderna in hand with the US National Institutes of Health.

Many hope that with multiple vaccines authorized in the EU, those who are vulnerable to the disease will be vaccinated more quickly.

Vaccinations began in the EU on Dec. 27 after the bloc authorized the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Like that vaccine, the Moderna jab uses messenger RNA (mRNA) to instruct cells to make the coronavirus' spike protein.

It does not make people sick but their immune systems learn how to recognize the protein and fight off the virus. The company had enrolled 30,000 participants in its phase three trials and announced in November that the vaccine was more than 94% effective.

The first study participants received the vaccine in May 2020, and the vaccine requires two doses administered 28 days apart. The Moderna vaccine is easier to handle than the Pfizer vaccine because it doesn't need to be stored at ultra-frozen temperatures.

There were no major safety concerns with the vaccine but common side effects included sore arms, fever, fatigue and muscle aches. The US first authorized use of the Moderna vaccine in December. The EU has ordered up to 160 million doses of the vaccine.

This second coronavirus vaccine could be authorized as the EU is criticised for its slow vaccine rollout. The bloc approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on Dec. 21 but vaccinations did not begin in Europe until the end of the month.

Many countries have been criticized for their slow vaccination strategies including France which vaccinated a mere 516 people in the first week and the Netherlands, that did not start vaccinating citizens until Wednesday.

Even Germany, where more than 300,000 people have been vaccinated, has also faced criticism nationally over its rollout.

And with limited doses available, some countries are now weighing delaying second doses in an effort to vaccinate more people. Many experts have said that vaccinating a huge proportion of the population is the only way to end the pandemic. — Euronews