The Food and Drug Administration could fully approve the two-dose Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as early as Monday, according to multiple reports.
Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson are currently operating under emergency use authorization for their COVID-19 vaccines.
Many health officials hope full authorization will help with vaccine hesitancy.
It could also lead to more vaccine mandates. Several universities said they would revisit the issue of a vaccine mandate after the COVID-19 shot was fully approved. Many school districts may also put the COVID-19 vaccine on its list of required vaccinations after it's fully approved.
The FDA did not comment to the New York Times, which was first to report about the potential authorization.
Jane Hopkins has lived in San Diego for over 40 years, and believes those who are hesitant, this could be the gamechanger.
“I think it will make a difference to some people. You know just that much more verification that it is the safe thing to do,” said Hopkins.
“I think it will," agreed Michael Brevard, "I think anything that is FDA approved you know increasing that confidence in a vaccine is terrific.”
Dr. Abisola Olulade who works in family medicine at Sharp Rees-Stealy says while Pfizer is the first, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson will follow suit.
“We should hopefully see that they also get approved, but they are going to do their due diligence and follow all the steps which is a good thing,” said Dr. Olulade.
Dr. Olulade said while local rules and regulations could change to include more vaccine requirements, she did not anticipate it. She said the vaccines efficacy has always been the same, "This is actually not anything new," stated Dr. Olulade, "It is still a vaccine that works and is still effective, so I don’t expect it will change anything.”
She stated Friday evening that the process of changing to FDA approved is more of a formality and should not have those who already got their dose second guessing.
“We have had millions and millions of people get vaccinated and they have not ended up in the hospital and haven’t died. So, it does not change much for the average person, it really is the end all be all process, and I think it’s a good thing they didn’t rush it," shared Dr. Olulade, "They took their time, and it should inspire confidence in the American people.”
Dr. Olulade said that given the Delta variant and ICU's steering towards full capacity, she hopes this inspires those who have been hesitant to get vaccinated.