EU regulator authorizes COVID shot made by France’s Valneva

LONDON (AP) — The European Medicines Agency says it is recommending the authorization of the coronavirus vaccine made by French pharmaceutical Valneva, making it the sixth shot to be given the green light in Europe. In a statement on Thursday, the EU drug regulator said it had cleared Valneva’s two-dose vaccine for use in people aged 18 to 50. The main study used to evaluate Valneva’s vaccine was research in about 3,000 people aged 30 and over, comparing it to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Those results showed Valneva’s vaccine triggered the production of higher levels of antibodies than the AstraZeneca vaccine.