The United States is an angrily divided nation. Everything has become politicized, leading to arguments online and in the real world. The loudest fight lately is over taking your shots. One group proudly proclaims that they’ve been vaccinated and chastises those who haven’t. The other side of the argument is that some people feel uncomfortable taking a rushed-out, non-approved vaccine. They’re concerned about the short and long-term effects of the vaccines and also contend that they don’t want the government to tell them what to do with their own bodies.
The media and health experts exerted a lot of pressure on the unvaxxed with the rallying cry of there’s a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” meant to scare or shame the holdouts into acquiescing to the jabs.
In a momentous event, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Pfizer and BioNTech full U.S. approval of their Covid-19 vaccine. The vaccines developed by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are still covered by emergency-use authorization. It’s anticipated that the two companies will ultimately gain FDA approval.
This will be a game changer. In a press release, the FDA said, “Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first Covid-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been known as the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine, and will now be marketed as Comirnaty (koe-mir’-na-tee), for the prevention of Covid-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older.”
For now, the vaccine will still be “available under emergency use authorization” for “individuals 12 through 15 years of age and for the administration of a third dose in certain immunocompromised individuals.”
The agency further said, “The FDA’s approval of this vaccine is a milestone, as we continue to battle the Covid-19 pandemic.” Acting FDA commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said, “While this and other vaccines have met the FDA’s rigorous, scientific standards for emergency use authorization, as the first FDA-approved Covid-19 vaccine, the public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product.”
Woodcock added, “Millions of people have already safely received Covid-19 vaccines.” For the folks who were hesitant, “the FDA approval of a vaccine may now instill additional confidence to get vaccinated.” In a vote of confidence in the vaccines, “Today’s milestone puts us one step closer to altering the course of this pandemic in the U.S.”
For those who may feel that this was rushed out, Dr. Peter Marks, director of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement, “Our scientific and medical experts conducted an incredibly thorough and thoughtful evaluation of this vaccine.” Marks continued, “We evaluated scientific data and information included in hundreds of thousands of pages, conducted our own analyses of Comirnaty’s safety and effectiveness, and performed a detailed assessment of the manufacturing processes, including inspections of the manufacturing facilities.”
This landmark decision will surely be used as leverage to get the holdouts vaccinated. It’s likely that we’ll see an aggressive push by the media, government and private sector to get people vaccinated. Schools and businesses will now most likely make vaccinations mandatory, due to the seal of approval from the FDA.
With all of the euphoria, we still need to think clearly and not succumb to fear. There is a chance that we will have to live with the various covid-related strains, similar to the ways we deal with cancer, diabetes and other maladies. There’s the possibility of slowly going down a slippery slope.
One of the great things about being an American is our freedom. It would be a sad day for our country if politicians take advantage of the situation and exert greater control. They could use the FDA’s mandate to push for never-ending booster shots. Next, it could be orders for mandatory flu shots and for a variety of other things.
This is not far-fetched. Take a look at what’s happening in other countries around the world. The people of France, Italy, Canada, Australia and other countries are protesting against the overreach of their politicians. Some governments have become near dictatorships, instituting draconian measures to deal with Covid-19 and the new strains. Australia has been shut down, people were told to stay indoors and the army is aggressively and heavy-handedly overseeing that citizens comply. A quick search on Twitter or Youtube will show the videos of aggressive police and military clamping down on the population.
You may think that this is a little overdramatic and that it won’t happen here; however, it could. We should be ecstatic that the vaccines have been FDA improved, which will make more people take their shots and, hopefully, get us closer to ending this chapter. Although, we don’t want to lose our liberties and freedoms in the process.
