Aug. 24, 2021 – White House officials urge COVID-19 vaccine skeptics to get immunized after Pfizer’s two-dose shot received full FDA approval.
“We know there are Americans who have waited for the FDA process to complete before getting the injection,” Jeff Zients, the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator, said during a briefing Tuesday. “For these Americans, the wait is over. Now is the time to join the more than 200 million Americans who have already been rolled up their sleeves and vaccinated. “
Many Americans have raised concerns about the emergency status of the coronavirus vaccines available in the past few months. As of Monday, Pfizer’s vaccine lost that label and received full approval.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD called the approval an “important milestone in our country’s vaccination efforts”.
“We know that some people have waited for this next step to be completed before being vaccinated,” he said. “If that is you, now is the time to get vaccinated.”
He continued, “Do it for your own health, do it for our children who cannot be vaccinated, and rely on the rest of us to protect them from infection. Do this for our healthcare workers fighting for the fourth time in overcrowded hospitals to care for COVID-19 patients during this pandemic. And do it for your community that needs more people like you to get vaccinated to get back to normal. “
Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases continue to rise.
The most recent 7-day average of daily cases is 137,000 – almost 12% more than the previous average. The number of deaths rose 23% to 739 per day.
But vaccinations are also increasing. There are now 171 million Americans fully vaccinated, and 6 million vaccinations have been given in the last 7 days – the highest 7-day total in over a month and a half.
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News Briefing, White House COVID-19 Response Team, Aug. 24, 2021.
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