- The US's average weekly vaccination rate has declined 38% since the FDA approved Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine.
- Some experts predicted that the FDA approval would have a major, positive impact on vaccine uptake.
- The regulatory green light could still pave the way for more vaccine mandates, though.
In the two weeks since the Food and Drug Administration approved Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, the US's average weekly vaccination rate has declined 38%.
That's despite some experts' predictions that a full approval would convince a large segment of Americans to get vaccinated.
The shots were previously administered via an emergency-use authorization — a temporary measure that allows vaccines or treatments to be rolled out during public-health emergencies. The FDA's full approval reinforces that Pfizer's vaccine is safe and effective, this time meeting the agency's gold standard for everyday use.
"I think it's going to have a major impact," Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to the White House, told NPR last month, adding, "There are those individuals who understandably, in some respects, don't want to get vaccinated until they get the full stamp of approval."
Fauci estimated that 20% or more of vaccine-eligible people who hadn't yet gotten their shots "will now step forward and get vaccinated" following the FDA's decision on August 23. At the time, that amounted to around 18 million people.
But just 9 million people have been vaccinated in the last two weeks — down from 11 million people over the previous two-week period, August 8-22.
In the month before Pfizer's vaccine was approved, the US's vaccination rate had been trending upward. Average weekly vaccinations rose 46%, as shown in the chart below.
Recent polls suggest that most unvaccinated people weren't holding out for the FDA's green light: In an Ipsos poll conducted in late August, 62% of unvaccinated people said they were not likely to get a COVID-19 shot even if the FDA approved one.
Another factor, however, could be the Delta variant: People who were on the fence about getting vaccinated may have already decided to do so because of the variant's higher transmissibility and the threat of a severe case.
Palmer Alexander, a 46-year-old in St. Louis, Missouri, is among that group. He said he initially chose not to get vaccinated because he worried that the shots had been authorized too quickly.
"I was waiting for some sort of FDA approval for any of the vaccines," he told Insider.
But once Alexander learned the Delta variant was causing high rates of severe disease in unvaccinated Black men like himself, he figured he shouldn't wait any longer. People of color have borne a disproportionate share of COVID-19 cases during the pandemic due to a host of factors, including a higher risk of exposure at work and unequal access to healthcare services.
Alexander got Johnson & Johnson's shot in July.
"I felt it was important that I do it, and if anything else, lead by example," he said.
FDA approval could spur more vaccine mandates
The FDA's decision could still have an indirect effect on future vaccination rates by making it easier for companies, schools, and government agencies to implement vaccine mandates.
Prior to the FDA approval, schools and businesses were wary of the legal implications of requiring COVID-19 vaccines, since the shots were only authorized for emergency use.
Already, the FDA's recent approval has ushered in a spate of new mandates.
Almost soon as the Pfizer shot was fully approved, the Pentagon announced that it would require all 1.4 million service members in the US military to get vaccinated. On Thursday, President Joe Biden is expected to issue executive orders that require most federal workers and contractors to be vaccinated.
Disney World has announced that its union workers would have to get vaccinated by October 22. And CVS Health said corporate employees and pharmacists would have to get vaccinated by October 31.
Many universities — including the University of Minnesota, State University of New York, Ohio State University, and most public Louisiana universities — instated similar mandates immediately following the FDA announcement.
Already, vaccine requirements at lots of schools prompt people to get the polio and measles vaccines — and there's reason to believe they'll work again. Around 43% of unvaccinated people surveyed in the Ipsos poll said they would likely get a COVID-19 shot if their employer required it.
