News Update

Pfizer vaccine granted full FDA approval

The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was granted full approval Monday from the Food and Drug Administration for people 16 and older, making it the first vaccine against the virus to get such approval.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement Monday that the full approval “confirms that the Pfizer vaccine meets a rigorous, scientific standard for safety and efficacy” and encouraged California residents to get vaccinated.

“With Covid-19 cases rising across the nation due to the Delta variant, I encourage all Californians to trust the science and protect themselves and their community by getting vaccinated,” he said.

Previously, the Pfizer vaccine was approved for emergency use. The decision to give it full approval is likely to prompt more community college districts in California to require students or staff to be vaccinated against Covid-19 this fall. While the state’s public universities and several community colleges already planned to mandate vaccinations, many community college districts have not yet done so and some said they were waiting for full approval.

The North Orange County Community College District, which operates two colleges, is one of those districts. Chancellor Cheryl Marshall said in a memo to district employees earlier this summer that Covid-19 vaccines would not be mandatory until one received full FDA approval.

The governing board for Palomar College in San Diego County also approved a resolution in July to require all employees to be vaccinated once at least one vaccine was fully approved.