FDA Under Growing Pressure To Grant Full Approval For COVID-19 Vaccines
BOSTON (CBS) -- With COVID cases on the rise nationwide, many are wondering when the FDA will grant full approval to the vaccines to encourage those who are hesitant to get vaccinated more incentive to do so. Dr. Mallika Marshall says the agency is vowing to get it done as soon as possible:
The Food and Drug Administration is under growing pressure to grant full approval to the vaccines which have currently been administered to more than 160 million Americans under Emergency Use Authorization. That's almost 350 million doses with good safety data. The hope is that once the vaccines are fully approved, vaccine holdouts will be more willing to get the shots and employers will feel more comfortable mandating the vaccine for their employees. Now, according to the Washington Post, the FDA is taking an "all hands on deck" approach, redeploying staff and adding computer resources to accelerate approval for the Pfizer vaccine, which submitted its application back in June. They have until January to make a decision but many expect it will come down by early Fall. The Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines are expected to follow.
