Why is Europe taking so long to approve the COVID vaccine? Updated Dec 15, 2020; Posted Dec 15, 2020 STRATFORD, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 15: Professor Martin Marshall, Chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners Council, administers a Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic at the Sir Ludwig Guttmann Health and Wellbeing Centre on December 15, 2020 in Stratford, England. After rolling out the vaccine to dozens of "hub" hospitals last week, the NHS is now enlisting several hundred primary care practices in its covid-19 vaccination campaign. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)Getty Images Facebook Share As Canadians, Britons and Americans begin getting immunized with a German-developed vaccine against coronavirus, pressure is building on the European Medicines Agency to approve the shot made by Pfizer Inc. and the German company BioNTech. German officials have been especially vocal that they want it approved before Christmas. Here’s a look at the EMA approval process: