Senior living industry executives are banking on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the first COVID-19 vaccine as the confirmation that vaccine-hesitant staff members need to finally roll up their sleeves.
Monday, Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine received full FDA approval. It now will be known as Comirnaty.
“While millions of people have already safely received COVID-19 vaccines, we recognize that for some, the FDA approval of a vaccine may not instill additional confidence to get vaccinated,” Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D., said in a statement. “Today’s milestone puts us one step closer to altering the course of this pandemic in the U.S.”
Senior living advocates could not agree more.
American Seniors Housing Association President David Schless said that FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine is a “welcome development” to the extent that it prompts previously reluctant employees and residents to become fully vaccinated.
Argentum President and CEO James Balda said: “The full approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine marks a landmark day for the ongoing mitigation of the disease. I am hopeful this decision will encourage the continued uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations not just in the general population, but also across the senior living industry, to protect those most vulnerable to the disease and its variants.”
Balda added that he hoped the vaccine’s approval would further ease the process of providing additional vaccine doses to senior living staff and residents.
LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan called Pfizer’s approval a “significant step forward in the ongoing fight against COVID-19.”
“Throughout this healthcare crisis, older adults have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19,” Sloan said. “Access to the COVID-19 vaccine has been the most important development of the pandemic for older adults and the people who care for them. Universal vaccination is the only way to protect older Americans and their caregivers.”
An American Health Care Association / National Center for Assisted Living spokeswoman said in a statement: “We strongly encourage all long-term care staff, residents and members of the community who have yet to get vaccinated to do so as soon as possible, especially in light of the highly contagious delta variant. The vaccines are safe and effective, and the best tool we have to protect our nation’s most vulnerable and bring an end to this pandemic.”
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine became available under emergency use authorization for people aged 16 or more years Dec. 11, 2020. Full approval comes as a study by the Israeli health ministry found that a third dose of the vaccine provided four times the protection against infection as two doses in adults 60 and older, according to the Washington Post. The level of protection was five to six times as high against serious illness and hospitalization.
Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine received emergency use authorization on Dec. 18, 2020, for individuals 18 and older. The one-dose Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccine received emergency use authorization for use in individuals 18 and older on Feb. 27. The two vaccines continue to be available under emergency use authorization only.
