As Britons, Americans and Canadians begin getting immunised with a German-developed vaccine against coronavirus, pressure is building on the European Medicines Agency to approve the jab. German officials have been especially vocal – given the involvement of Mainz-based BioNTech alongside US firm Pfizer – that they want it approved before Christmas. Here is a look at the EMA approval process. Sandra Lindsay (left), a nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Centre in New York, is inoculated with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (Mark Lennihan/Pool/AP) – What is the European Medicines Agency (EMA)? The EMA is Europe’s medicines regulatory agency and approves new treatments and vaccines for all 27 countries across the European Union.