Since the May 7th filing of its application, federal regulators have felt increasing public pressure to approve Pfizers vaccine. The F.D.A. has not made me feel any urgency. On Tuesday, Dr. Ashish K. Jha (dean of Brown University School of Public Health) said that the full approval was granted. It is baffling considering where we are in terms of deaths, infections, and hospitalizations.Although nearly 192 million Americans, 58 percent of total population, and 70% of adults in the nation have had at least one shot of vaccine, many are still susceptible to the dominant Delta virus, which is ultracontagious. According to the New York Times database, nearly 86,000 infections are occurring per day in the country, an increase of 142 percentage in two weeks.The Kaiser Family Foundation has recently conducted polls to track public attitudes during the pandemic. It found that three out of 10 people who were not vaccinated said they would be more likely get a shot with an approved vaccine. The pollsters cautioned that many respondents didn't understand the regulatory process, and may have been seeking a proxy reason not to get a shot.Moderna, America's second-most widely used vaccine, applied for final approval on June 1. The company is still uploading data and hasn't yet said when it will be finished. Johnson & Johnson is the third vaccine that has been approved for emergency use. However, they have not yet submitted data but plan to do so in the latter part of this year.The full approval of the Pfizer vaccine is the first step in a network of mandated vaccinations throughout the country. Civilian employees working for the Defense Department need to be vaccinated. The F.D.A. has delayed ordering shots for the 1.3 million active-duty military personnel. Acts
