Final US FDA Approval of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID Vaccine – Likely to Drive More Voluntary Jabs & Mandates

 

Link to the source article >> https://healthpolicy-watch.news/landmark-us-fda-approval-of-first-covid-vaccine-likely-to-drive-more-voluntary-jabs-mandates/

In a milestone event that was also long-awaited, The United States Food & Drug Administration issued a final authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID19 vaccine – the first such vaccine to receive permanent FDA approval status – following the receipt of an Emergency Use Listing on 11 December.

The definitive FDA approval is expected to bolster both public willingness to voluntarily get the jab – as well as more vaccine mandates.  As one of the first such mandates to be issued in the wake of the announcement, the US Pentagon said that some 1.4 million armed forces personnel around the world would be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, with guidelines to be issued shortly. Private companies, health care providers and universities across the United States are also grappling with vaccine mandates.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio followed, announcing that all New York City school staff would be required to get vaccinated – the largest school system in the United States to have imposed such a mandate. In New Jersey, Governor  Phil Murphy announced that all state employees would have to be vaccinated by 18 October.  That follows moves by California requiring teachers to get vaccinated two weeks ago.  Dozens of private schools and colleges around the country also have instituted vaccine mandates. Some public universities and individual school boards in vaccine hesitant states like Florida are also enacting vaccine and/or mask mandates – despite attempts to bar them from doing so by state authorities.

At the same time, US health officials were clearly hoping that vaccine-hesitant people, who had expressed doubts about the speed of the emergency approvals, might be swayed to get the jab now that the authorization is permanent.

“While millions of people have already safely received COVID-19 vaccines, we recognise that for some, the FDA approval of a vaccine may now instil additional confidence to get vaccinated,” said the FDA’s Acting Commissioner, Janet Woodcock, in announcing the move.  “Today’s milestone puts us one step closer to altering the course of this pandemic in the U.S.”

For now, the final approval, however, remains limited to people age 16 and over, with vaccines for younger groups, aged 12-15, being administered under the pre-existing EUA.  Increasingly, infections are also being seen among younger adults and teens in North America and worldwide as social gatherings regain steam and schools reopen – accelerating the spread of the highly-infectious Delta variant.

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