The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted its full approval to Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine.
As reported by CBS News, the FDA's approval could result in the slowdown of first-dose inoculations being reversed.
The FDA's Acting Commissioner Janet Woodcock referred to this in a statement on Monday, in which she said:
"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 US."
The news comes after a months-long push by the FDA to finally clear the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine through its final regulations, and means that it has been deemed approved for Americans as young as 16 to receive the vaccination.
In a statement to ABC News, Albert Bourla, Pfizer CEO said: "Based on the longer-term follow-up data that we submitted, today’s approval for those aged 16 and over affirms the efficacy and safety profile of our vaccine at a time when it is urgently needed.
"Hundreds of millions of doses of our vaccine already have been administered in the US since December 2020, and we look forward to continuing to work with the US government to reach more Americans."
Additionally, Dr. Rich Besser, former acting CDC director and president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation told ABC that the approval "could not come at a more important time", with regards cases of the Delta variant continuing to increase across the US.
"I am hopeful that full approval will address any remaining concerns and will move many people to a ‘yes’ on vaccination," Dr. Besser added.
ABC also reports on how the new approval could result in both the public and private sectors moving forward with vaccine mandates.
