Pfizer COVID Vaccine Receives FDA Approval

For those of you who have been waiting to get the COVID vaccine until it’s approved by the Food and Drug Administration, on Monday, it happened.

The FDA gave full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.

The vaccine made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech now carries the strongest endorsement from the Food and Drug Administration, which has never before had so much evidence to judge a shot’s safety.

More than 200 million Pfizer doses already have been administered in the U.S. — and hundreds of millions more worldwide — since emergency use began in December.

Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a press release that 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.

She went on to say that the approval of the Pfizer COVID vaccine, quote, “puts us one step closer to altering the course of this pandemic in the U.S.”

According to the Department of Public Health, as of Monday, of the 633 patients in Medical Facilities in the Region E area which includes Franklin, Hart, and Stephens counties, 206 are COVID patients or 32.5%.

And as of Saturday, the DPH reported 13,500 confirmed cases of COVID in Georgia.

In the Region E area, as of Friday, there were 595 patients hospitalized with COVID out of 620 available hospital beds.

Last week, DPH Commissioner Katherine Toomey said most of those people hospitalized have not been vaccinated.

“This variant is much more transmissible. It goes very quickly from person to person. It causes you to become infected much more quickly; within a matter of days rather than a week or more. So it’s not surprising that it’s making a bee-line to those who have not been vaccinated. The good news is that vaccines do work. They are protecting people from the consequences of what is a much more dangerous virus,” Toomey explained.

Toomey added DPH is now setting up free COVID vaccine stations in more public places across the state, such as grocery stores and event venues, to make it easier for people to get the vaccine.

“Having the opportunity to be vaccinated while you’re doing other things, like going to the grocery store or the farmer’s market is when people will make that decision, ultimately. And also working with primary care providers around the state, and we are working with them to make sure they are able to offer vaccines in their offices and also counsel about the vaccine,” she said.

The Pfizer COVID vaccine is also readily available for free at most pharmacies and health department clinics.