Pfizer Vaccine Gets Full Approval From The FDA

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After reviewing a mountain of safety and efficacy data, federal regulators at the Food and Drug Administration have fully approved the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, which will be marketed under the brand name Comirnaty. Will members of the vaccine-hesitant population be persuaded to roll up their sleeves? Some will, but behavioral scientists don't expect this approval to significantly move the needle there. What's probably going to have a bigger impact, as experts told me and my colleagues, will be the employers and universities who mandate shots now that the vaccine has FDA approval beyond its emergency use authorization.

After today's regulatory reveal, the Pentagon said it was creating “actionable guidance” to require the Pfizer vaccine for the military. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had announced this month that he was seeking approval to mandate vaccines for troops, planning for such a requirement to go into effect by mid-September. But resistance against vaccines in the military remains an obstacle; as of July, for instance, fewer than 60 percent of Marines were fully vaccinated.