Misleading claims about EU's approval of COVID vaccines persist online

A question of societal media posts has misleadingly interpreted a caller connection made by the European Commission, framing it arsenic a bombshell admittance that COVID-19 vaccines were passed without due checks.

"Since 2020, we've been told that everything was secure, that everything had been tested. Now Mrs. von der Leyen and her Brussels technocrats person astatine past recognised that the authorisations for COVID-19 vaccines were handed connected the ground of partial dossier,” a YouTuber named ‘CharOfficiel’ said successful a video which has been viewed much than 16,000 times.

To enactment his claim, the YouTuber cites an nonfiction published by German regular the Berliner Zeitung connected 16 September 2025. It bears the header "EU Commission admits: Corona vaccines were released without 'comprehensive' information data.”

In its article, the Berliner Zeitung writes, "[the] EU Commission has admitted that the corona vaccines were administered to the colonisation without capable information data.”

It goes connected to punctuation a question submitted to the European Commission by Gerald Hauser, who is an Austrian MEP from the far-right Patriots for Europe (PfE) radical and a vocal professional of Europe's vaccine strategy.

In a bid of questions focusing connected the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine—developed by pharmaceutical groups BioNTech and Pfizer and the archetypal to beryllium approved successful Europe—Hauser asked, "Why did the Commission not uphold the Treaty and pass citizens – arsenic stated successful the declaration – that the efficacy and information of the gene-based vaccine were not guaranteed?"

Misinterpreted data

In August, the Commission responded by stating that these vaccines were granted a "conditional selling authorisation,” which gives the greenish airy to medicines with "unmet aesculapian needs whilst a broad information dossier is not yet available.”

The Berliner Zeitung told EuroVerify that it utilized quotation marks astir the connection "comprehensive" successful its headline, "precisely to bespeak that the operation is drawn from the Commission's ain statement.”

Another media outlet, the European Conservative, besides picked up connected the Commission's response, publishing an nonfiction with the header "COVID-19 Vaccines Were Approved Without Proper Health Control Procedures, EU Commission Admits."

The work went connected to impeach the Commission of concealing "essential accusation astatine the precise infinitesimal erstwhile citizens were being asked for an enactment of wide trust."

In reality, the Commission's effect is not a caller "admission,” fixed that it is longstanding and nationalist cognition that the support of COVID-19 vaccines was fast-tracked successful airy of the pandemic.

A Commission spokesperson told EuroVerify that the effect it provided to Hauser had been misinterpreted successful definite cases, specifying that conditional marketplace authorisations let medicines with "less broad objective information than usually required" to beryllium greenlit.

Emergency authorisation

Conditional selling authorisations are regulatory trade-offs that tin beryllium granted during nationalist wellness emergencies, erstwhile the request for contiguous vaccine entree outweighs the risks of having each the disposable data. 

The COVID vaccine is not an exception. For instance, the Ebola vaccine was granted a conditional selling authorisation successful 2019 during the epidemic, earlier receiving a afloat 1 successful 2021.

"In the involvement of nationalist health, applicants whitethorn beryllium granted a conditional selling authorisation for specified medicines on less broad objective information than usually required, where the payment of contiguous availability of the medicine outweighs the hazard inherent successful the information that further information are inactive required,” a Commission spokesperson told Euronews.

"The obligations person since been fulfilled and the COVID-19 vaccines person been converted to afloat selling authorisations,” added the Commission spokesperson.

Although COVID-19 vaccines were granted conditional selling authorisations, they were not granted a broad greenish light, arsenic thousands of individuals participated successful objective trials arsenic portion of assessments carried retired by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Once vaccines are granted afloat selling authorisations, the EMA and the EU subordinate states continue to show reports of suspected broadside effects with COVID-19 vaccines, meaning that authorisations tin beryllium revoked.

According to a study published successful the Lancet Respiratory Medicine outlet, COVID-19 vaccines reduced deaths by 59% betwixt December 2020 and March 2023, representing astir 1.6 cardinal lives saved.