With the “imminent” full approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine expected, more businesses will likely issue vaccine mandates to help prevent the Delta variant from sending the country further backward in this pandemic, doctors say.
CNN — With the “imminent” full approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine expected, more businesses will likely issue vaccine mandates to help prevent the Delta variant from sending the country further backward in this pandemic, doctors say. “For businesses and universities that have been thinking about putting vaccine requirements in place in order to create safer spaces for people to work and learn, I think that this move from the FDA… will actually help them to move forward with those kinds of plans,” US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told CNN on Sunday. All three Covid-19 vaccines used in the United States have been vetted and granted emergency use authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine may become the first to be granted full FDA approval following the review of months of additional safety and efficacy data. That approval is “imminent,” but no date has been mentioned, a senior federal official told CNN on Friday. Businesses don’t need full FDA approval to mandate a Covid-19 vaccine — they already have legal authority to do so, according to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But full approval could give any legal challenge less potency. Full FDA approval would also give some skeptics of the Covid-19 vaccine more confidence in getting shots, according to research by the Kaiser Family Foundation. “This FDA approval cannot come a moment too soon,” said emergency physician Dr. Megan Ranney, associate dean at the School of Public Health at Brown University. “With this full approval in hand, we’re going to have a chance to message again about the safety and effectiveness of this vaccine. We can help to fill the airwaves and the newspapers and social media with messages about what a difference this vaccine makes in terms of preventing hospitalization and death, even in the face of the Delta variant,” Ranney said. New vaccinations increase, but with a caveat With the Delta variant fueling more Covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations — including among children — the rates of new vaccinations have recently increased. On Saturday, for the third consecutive day, more than 1 million doses were administered, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Such a feat had not occurred since the first week of July. But it’s important to remember the vaccines don’t fully kick in until two weeks after the final dose.
