The Food and Drug Administration gave Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine full approval Monday, but some health officials in rural parts of the state are still concerned about vaccination uptake.
Thomas Pechin is a family physician and health officer in LaGrange County. He said his county is about 22 percent vaccinated for COVID-19, and the FDA’s full approval could take it up to 25 to 30 percent.
“I think we’re going to have to do other things to encourage people to get their vaccines," He said. "What this does do though is create an argument for institutions and insurance companies to say ‘hey, we want you to be vaccinated.’”
Read: US Regulators Give Full Approval To Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine
George Ball is an associate professor of operations and decisions technology at the IU Kelley School of Business and has worked in medical device manufacturing.
He said Pfizer’s full approval means the FDA has taken all the same steps now they do to approve any new drug.
“Even though it was slightly faster, it went through what’s called a priority review process. All that means is they did the same amount of steps, but they martialed all their resources to do it faster.”
Read: Herd Immunity Via COVID-19 Vaccines 'A Fool's Errand' In Rural Indiana
A statement from the FDA says during clinical trials, the Pfizer vaccine was 91 percent effective in preventing COVID-19.
Brock Turner assisted in the reporting for this story.
