The Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for people 16 and older should spur federal, state and local governments to impose widespread vaccine mandates.
Health officials expect that full approval of the Moderna vaccine, which relies on similar technology, will come within the next few weeks.
All workers at government, hospitals, schools and long-term care facilities should be required to be vaccinated. So should students, faculty and staff at public colleges and universities. And that’s just for starters. Bay Area counties and cities should follow New York City’s lead and mandate proof of vaccination for access to most indoor activities, including dining, gyms and entertainment shows. Counties and cities throughout California should do the same.
For weeks we have watched as coronavirus cases rise at an alarming rate among those who are not vaccinated, largely because of a lack of political will and personal responsibility. During the spring it appeared that the virus was rapidly declining. But the United States is now averaging about 150,000 new COVID-19 cases and 1,000 deaths a day. More than 90,000 adults are hospitalized, and 95% of those entering the hospital are unvaccinated.
Mandates are lawful and ethical. They are a game-changer that provide the best means available to slow the spread of the Delta variant and end the deadly pandemic. They offer a needed incentive to help persuade the unvaccinated to get their shots. An estimated 25% of U.S. adults still have not received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Roughly half of Californians have been fully vaccinated. A poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that three in 10 unvaccinated adults say they’d be more likely to get vaccinated if the vaccines received full approval from the FDA.
The FDA went to great lengths in its review for full approval. The agency studied 340,000 pages of data about the vaccine’s safety and efficacy. It also conducted repeated inspections of manufacturing plants .
Scientists analyzed clinical trial data from about 20,000 vaccine and 20,000 placebo recipients. The conclusion: The vaccine was 91% effective in preventing COVID-19 disease. The FDA said Monday that more than half of the clinical trial participants were followed for safety outcomes for at least four months after the second dose. Overall, approximately 12,000 recipients have been followed for at least six months.
Increasing the percentage of vaccinated people is an important step. But closer to home, it remains crucial that we follow Bay Area health officials requirement of indoor mask mandates, regardless of vaccination status, for Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Mateo, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Sonoma counties.
Scientists have known for months that the quickest way to beat COVID-19 was by vaccinating a high percentage of the population and taking safety precautions to guard against needless spread of the virus. Monday’s approval by the FDA offers federal, state and local governments the justification needed to impose widespread vaccination mandates.