LANCASTER, Pa. — Millions of Americans said they wouldn’t get a COVID vaccine until it had full FDA approval. The Pfizer vaccine got that approval on Aug. 23.
Public health experts hoped it would encourage more people to get the shot. A June survey by Kaiser Family Foundation found 30 percent of unvaccinated people would be more likely to get a vaccine if it had full FDA approval.
“There were people who wanted more data, so there were people who just wanted to see what happens when this was given to more people. I think it would help them,” said Dr. John Goldman, an infectious disease specialist at UPMC.
Upon the news President Joe Biden gave a press conference urging Americans to get vaccinated, saying the approval should reassure people of its safety. He called FDA approval the “gold standard.”
“The moment you’ve been waiting for is here,” Biden said.
But vaccine hesitancy isn’t going away anytime soon. The FDA’s stamp of safety didn’t change all minds.
“I don't think it's going to matter at all the people who didn't get the vaccine because it wasn't an approved vaccine,” said Ken Henry of West Lampeter Township. “Just because you're saying it's approved, is it really a big difference from what it was?”
Henry—who did get the vaccine—thinks the FDA’s approval process was too rushed.
The previous fastest-developed vaccine was for mumps, which was developed in four years between 1963 and 1967.
The development of the COVID vaccine took less than a year, though RNA vaccine research began about 15 years ago.
Other concerns remain, sometimes fueled by misinformation still circulating on social media that the vaccine contains microchips, makes you magnetic or increases the risk of autism.
“There’s a certain percentage of the population that doesn’t believe in COVID, doesn’t believe in vaccines,” Goldman said. “I don’t think those beliefs are logical so I don’t think something like FDA approval is going to change their mind.”
The approval may lead to more vaccinations for practical reasons, since it means workplaces and schools can require it for employees and students.
“I think going forward it would be justifiable good cause to terminate someone if part of the condition of the employment is to get a vaccine,” said Scott Cooper, partner at Schmidt Kramer law firm.
Currently 62 percent of Americans have gotten at least one dose, with 52 percent fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.