The World Health Organization listed AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, while sources said the EU is in talks with Moderna on buying more vaccines.
"The last few turbulent trading sessions have all but wiped out what had been a strong start to the year," said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.
More significantly, ECB policymakers are also debating what role climate considerations should play in the institution's multi-trillion euro bond-buying programme.
At Thursday's press conference, former French finance minister Lagarde is likely to also be quizzed about the recent strength of the euro against the dollar.
One possible scenario if Italia Viva quits would be for all the coalition parties to renegotiate a new pact, which would almost certainly open the way for a major cabinet reshuffle, with or without Conte at the helm.
As most of Europe grapples with a resurgence in coronavirus cases, forecasters who last month predicted the recovery would continue now expect the euro zone economy to shrink 2.5% this quarter after expanding a record 12.6% in Q3.
EU leaders agreed in July to launch a 1.8 trillion euro recovery plan to boost the economy over the next seven years from the unprecedented slump this year caused by the pandemic.
"That will be a lot of money which will be moved around over the next years," German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.
The firm's PMI output index turned positive -- hitting 54.8 points in July compares to 48.5 in June -- and showed the sharpest rate of growth in July for just over two years.