Highly sensitive COVID vaccine could be a test of resilience for EU anti-counterfeiting elements 8 January 2021 Expand Serialisation expert Christoph Krähenbühl of Excellis Health Europe explores the potential vulnerabilities in the COVID vaccine supply chain. On Friday 19 th December 2020, Swissmedic became the second regulator in Europe to approve Pfizer/BioNTechâs mRNA COVID-19 vaccine - the first vaccine developed in the western world, after the UKâs MHRA announcement on 2 nd December. The decision by Switzerlandâs regulatory authority marks an important milestone because, unlike the temporary supply permission given by the UK MHRA for an initial number of batches, the Swiss regulator has granted Pfizer/BioNTechâs vaccine, under the brand name Comirnaty, a regular marketing approval. The Swiss decision therefore constitutes the world's first approval following an ordinary marketing authorisation procedure.