The COVID-19 pandemic has brought forth many unknowns, and for a little under half of the country, the most prominent sources for worry lie within the toolkit for COVID-19 prevention: the COVID-19 vaccine. The effectiveness of the vaccination, the preparation that went into developing the vaccination, and the method in which one administers the vaccine have been focus points for the vaccine-hesitant crowd during these difficult times. While asking questions and being reasonably cautious is understandable, COVID-19 vaccination developer and pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, hopes to put some worried minds at ease with a recent stamp of approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that as of early August, 168.4 million people or 49.6 percent of the American population have been fully vaccinated. With just under half of the population being vaccinated, the question of “how many vaccinated is enough?” arises, especially as we analyze the rise of anti-vaccination groups and misinformation that seems to follow their activity. The CDC has projected that for any type of pandemic or viral outbreak, combined with all that we know about COVID-19 at the current time, 70-90 percent of the affected community would need to be fully vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity. Reaching herd immunity ensures that person-to-person transfer of the disease at hand, in this case COVID-19, is highly unlikely due to a majority of the herd having an immunity. Now, the FDA and the CDC in conjunction believe that this recent approval of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine will assist in closing the gap between the vaccinated and unvaccinated populations, rearing us steadily out of this pandemic.
Acting FDA Commissioner, Janet Woodcock said in a statement early last week, “The FDA’s approval of this vaccine is a milestone as we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. While this and other vaccines have met the FDA’s rigorous, scientific standards for emergency use authorization, as the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine, the public can be very confident that this (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product”. Woodcock continues to say, “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 U.S.” For more information regarding the rigorous and tedious approval process Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine went through with the United States FDA, you can visit fda.gov and click on their press release dated August 23rd.
With over 18,732 COVID-19 cases both confirmed and highly probable in Southeastern Idaho at the closing end of last week, we are witnessing a steady and consistent climb in positive cases. If you are considering getting vaccinated, you can find all the info you need on local resources by visiting [siphidaho.org]. If you or someone you know has a healthy appetite for answers to their questions regarding Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine and its safety, you can also contact Southeastern Idaho Public Health (SIPH) by phone at their COVID-19 Hotline: (208)-234-5875.
