The European Medicines Agency (EMA) was holding a meeting on Monday, two days ahead of schedule, that could decide to recommend approving Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, a spokesperson said.

The EMA's human medicines committee (CHMP) had been scheduled to meet on Wednesday.

The agency has set a Jan. 12 deadline for whether to recommend Moderna's vaccine. It recommended a COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech on Dec. 21.

"In the event that the CHMP reaches an opinion at today’s meeting, we would send out a press release as soon as possible after the meeting," it said in a statement.

A CHMP meeting scheduled for Wednesday was still planned "in case the committee does not reach a decision today," it added.