Moderna vaccine set for imminent US approval, as Europe battles surge

Moderna's coronavirus vaccine was set for imminent approval in the U.S. on Dec. 17, as COVID death tolls climbed around the world, with Europe becoming the first region to pass 500,000 fatalities and Brazil notching more than 1,000 deaths in 24 hours.

The Moderna jab is now expected to become the second vaccine allowed in a Western country, after a panel of U.S. experts recommended emergency use approval - advice that the country's Food and Drug Administration is likely to act on.

French President Emmanuel Macron meanwhile became the latest national leader to test positive for coronavirus, forcing several other European politicians into quarantine.

Europe is battling a winter surge that has placed it at the heart of the pandemic once again, with the disease biting harder in countries like Germany than it did during the first wave in March and April.

The European Union is under massive pressure to approve potential vaccines after Britain and the United States began rolling out a drug produced by Pfizer and BioNtech.

The bloc has promised to begin inoculations with the Pfizer drug before the end of the year. Late on Dec. 17 said it would fast-track the Moderna vaccine, with approval now scheduled for January 6, a week earlier than previously planned.

As the U.S. fights back against the virus, Macron's challenges are mounting - he was tested after showing symptoms of the disease and is now isolating for seven days as his country faces its own upsurge in cases.

Macron's symptoms were said to include a fever, cough and fatigue.

The French leader's positive test results group him with U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who were both treated in hospital after contracting the...