On the morning of August 23, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech’s two-dose vaccine for people ages 16 and up.
The Pfizer vaccine is the first COVID-19 vaccination to receive the long-awaited final regulatory approval. Several media commentators have noted that final approval is a “game-changer,” not only because surveys have indicated that up to a third of unvaccinated adults would be more likely to now get the vaccine, but because many employers have been waiting for full approval before mandating vaccines for their employees.
Even before final approval, vaccine mandates by employers have been upheld by the courts since emergency-use authorization for the vaccines was given in December 2020. Following the announcement, former Virginia governor and current Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe immediately called on all Virginia employers to require their employees to be vaccinated. Other calls for vaccine mandates are expected in the coming days.
