The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set a January goal to decide whether to fully approve Pfizer’s Covid-19 mRNA vaccine.
The Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine was the first to be given emergency authorization by the FDA in 2020. If approved, Pfizer’s mRNA injections will be the first fully approved coronavirus vaccine in the U.S.
Full FDA approval would allow Pfizer to directly market the shots to the general public at a price yet to be determined.
Full approval would only be for people aged 18 and older because emergency approval for people under 18 only occurred in May, according to DailyMail.com.
As of Friday, more than 186.5 million vaccines have been administered in the U.S. The White House missed its goal of 70% of Americans with at least one vaccine dose.
Health experts are hopeful that full FDA approval will ease vaccine hesitancy in the Black community.
Volunteers are knocking on doors of unvaccinated Americans in urban and rural areas to urge compliance.
The FDA met with officials from Pfizer to approve a third booster shot. However, the FDA and CDC say Americans who are fully vaccinated do not need a third booster shot.
People with long Covid symptoms in the UK are participating in trials to receive monthly Covid-19 mRNA vaccines.
