Europe's drugs regulator said on Thursday it now recommended that the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine be given three weeks after the first as many countries delay shots to vaccinate more of their population.

The labelling of the vaccine, developed along with Germany's BioNTech and branded Comirnaty in Europe, before the change stated that the interval between the two doses should be "at least 21 days", the European Medicines Agency said.

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.) ((Pushkala.A@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @pullthekart; within UK: +44 20 7542 1810, outside UK: +91 80 6182 2600; Mobile: +91 852 751 3793 ;))