Overnight Health Care: FDA grants full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine

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Today:  FDA gave full approval to Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine. As a result, we’re likely to see more vaccine mandates from private businesses – something the White House enthusiastically endorses. 

We’ll start with the vaccine news:

FDA grants full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday granted the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine full approval in a highly anticipated move that’s expected to boost vaccinations and spark more mandates nationwide.

The federal agency reached the milestone of issuing the first complete authorization for a COVID-19 vaccine after an approximately three-month review of Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech’s application to the FDA for full approval.

The vaccine will be marketed as Comirnaty, with the full authorization applying to vaccine recipients age 16 and older.

Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock praised the authorization in a press briefing, saying it “holds the promise of altering the course of the pandemic in the United States.”

“This is an unprecedented timeline given the volume of review and the meticulous manner in which it was done,” she said. “But we want to underscore that our efforts to move as quickly as possible have in no way sacrifice scientific standards for the integrity of our process.”

Why it matters: With slightly more than half of the total U.S. population fully vaccinated, experts and Biden administration officials are hopeful the agency’s full approval will serve as a catalyst for vaccinations in the country.

Read more here. 

​​Biden used the announcement to urge the unvaccinated to stop waiting and get the shots

The full FDA approval is a chance to step up the messaging, and President BidenJoe BidenHenri downgraded to tropical depression as it dumps rain on northeast Britain to urge G7 leaders to consider adopting sanctions against Taliban: report Five lawmakers to watch ahead of key House budget vote MORE quickly gave remarks after the move on Monday, calling on unvaccinated Americans who have been waiting to get the shots to get vaccinated “today.”

Biden called the FDA’s full approval for the vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech earlier on Monday a “key milestone” in the fight against the virus, and said it takes away any final excuse for not getting vaccinated.

“After a strict process the FDA has reaffirmed its findings that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective and the FDA has given its full and final approval,” Biden said. “So let me say this loudly and clearly: If you’re one of the millions of Americans who said that they will not get the shot until it has full and final approval of the FDA, it has now happened.”

Read more here.

And more people could now be mandated to get the shots through their employers

The full…