BRUSSELS, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) The COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University was authorized for use by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the drug regulator of the European Union (EU), on Friday. The EMA said it had assessed the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine and recommended that a formal conditional marketing authorization be granted by the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU. With this third positive opinion, we have further expanded the arsenal of vaccines available to EU and EEA (European Economic Area) member states to combat the pandemic and protect their citizens, Emer Cooke, executive director of the EMA, said in a statement.