Why full FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine wasn't the 'silver bullet' for vaccination rates


Even though health officials had hoped the opposite to be true, a federal government analysis suggests full FDA approval of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine had only a "modest and relatively short-lived" effect on vaccination rates, CNN reports. In other words, while there was a resulting uptick, full licensure was not the "silver bullet" to completely eliminate vaccine hesitancy.
"There weren't suddenly lines around the block," said Becca Siegel, a senior adviser to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That's because for "truly undecided people, this is a complex decision. It's not one thing," Siegel explained.
Notably, fear (whether that's of getting sick or of missing out), social pressure from friends and families, employer mandates, and concerns regarding the Delta variant were more likely to bolster vaccination rates in hesitant individuals than full FDA approval, CNN notes, per polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Still, licensure could play an otherwise long-term role in convincing Americans to roll up their sleeves. "We won't see the impact of approval on day one, hour one, but could see it over a long period of time," said Siegel. "This is a slow, steady march."
And as the U.S. inches toward the finish line, "I think we've come to recognize that mandates are what we've come to in order to really generate increases in vaccination," added John Browstein of Boston Children's Hospital. "Mandates are super important to cover the last mile for those who are on the fence." Read more at CNN.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Hollywood's new affection for the British smile
Talking Point Natural teeth are bucking the trend of the classic Hollywood smile
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Sudoku medium: March 27, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Crossword: March 27, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Measles outbreak spreads, as does RFK Jr.'s influence
Speed Read The outbreak centered in Texas has grown to at least three states and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promoting unproven treatments
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Five years on: How Covid changed everything
Feature We seem to have collectively forgotten Covid’s horrors, but they have completely reshaped politics
By The Week US Published
-
RFK Jr. offers alternative remedies as measles spreads
Speed Read Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes unsupported claims about containing the spread as vaccine skepticism grows
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Texas outbreak brings 1st US measles death since 2015
Speed read The outbreak is concentrated in a 'close-knit, undervaccinated' Mennonite community in rural Gaines County
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Mystery illness spreading in Congo rapidly kills dozens
Speed Read The World Health Organization said 53 people have died in an outbreak that originated in a village where three children ate a bat carcass
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Ozempic can curb alcohol cravings, study finds
Speed read Weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy may also be helpful in limiting alcohol consumption
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New form of H5N1 bird flu found in US dairy cows
Speed Read This new form of bird flu is different from the version that spread through herds in the last year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Microplastics accumulating in human brains, study finds
Speed Read The amount of tiny plastic particles found in human brains increased dramatically from 2016 to 2024
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published