Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine is the first COVID vaccine to receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA announced the approval on August 23.
The Pfizer vaccine is approved for individuals sixteen years and older. It requires two doses, three weeks apart. Recipients are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving their second shot.
With this approval, the FDA stated in a press release that the public can be confident in the vaccine due to the rigorous scientific and safety standards set in place. The press release goes on to say that the vaccine’s approval may now instill additional confidence for the public to get vaccinated.
Ashley Davies, the Healthy Development Coordinator at the Washington County Health Department, gave a statement regarding the possible impact on local vaccination rates.
“We know that many individuals expressed hesitancy of the vaccines until they received full FDA approval. We anticipate seeing a continued increase in vaccine uptake associated with this news. The second round of market research we intend to conduct this fall will also indicate if the full approval is a factor for more people who have not yet received the vaccine to do so.”
According to another press release by the FDA, this vaccine will also now be marketed as Comirnaty (koe-mir-na-tee). Comirnaty is a conglomeration of the words “COVID-19 immunity” and “mRNA”.
With the approval of this vaccine, the opportunity for other vaccines to be approved may be available in the near future as they continue to develop.
Headline Photo: Pfizer’s newly approved vaccine aims to boost confidence for unvaccinated individuals. Photo by Mat Napo on Unsplash.com