An important milestone has been reached by COVID-19 vaccine. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has become the first Coronavirus vaccine to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The vaccine was approved for those who are 16 years old and older.
“The FDA’s approval of this vaccine is a milestone as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. While this and other vaccines have met the FDA’s rigorous, scientific standards for emergency use authorization, as the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine, the public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product. While millions of people have already safely received COVID-19 vaccines, we recognize that for some, the FDA approval of a vaccine may now instill additional confidence to get vaccinated. Today’s milestone puts us one step closer to altering the course of this pandemic in the U.S,” declared Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D.
In order to offer its approval, the FDA performed multiple inspections and analyses, looking at scientific data from countless reports. The FDA also made it clear that, despite the fast approval, “it was fully in keeping with our existing high standards for vaccines in the U.S.” Until now, the vaccine was available with a EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) that was also granted by the FDA back in December last year.
A healthcare decision involves a lot of information, and not all of it is easily graspable; whether we realize it or not, we are responsible for people’s health outcomes. According to health officials, being vaccinated is one of the best ways to protect ourselves from becoming severely sick with COVID-19 and needing medical attention. The FDA approval might make convince more people to get the Pfizer vaccine before the cold season is upon us.
