U.S. manufacturer Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine received the green light from the European Medicines Authority on Wednesday, becoming the second shot to be approved in the EU.

Now the vaccine needs to be approved by the European Commission, which is expected soon so that vaccination can begin.

On 21 December, the EMA recommended the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Pfizer and BioNTech.

Hundreds of thousands of Europeans have received the shot since the rollout began a week ago.