CHEAT SHEET: What does it mean to approve a vaccine?
While the Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccine on Aug. 23, officials are now asking the White House to scale back the plan to administer vaccine boosters until the Centers for Disease Control and other health organizations can thoroughly review the data. Over 200 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been administered in the United States since December, and though most clinical trials can last years before being granted full FDA approval, the FDA is confident in the efficacy and safety of this vaccine after months of real-world trials.