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

Pop-up vaccine clinic sign.
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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.

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Brigid Kennedy

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.