A health care worker fills a syringe with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in the US last year. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
By EARYEL BOWLEG
Tribune Staff Reporter
ebowleg@tribunemedia.net
THE US Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine gave more confidence to those who received the vaccine at the Kendal G L Isaacs National Gymnasium yesterday.
Pfizer is now the first COVID-19 vaccine to be FDA approved and will now be marketed as “Comirnaty for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older,” according to the FDA.
When The Tribune visited the gym, many people expressed hesitancy about getting the jab but were motivated to do so for various reasons such as protecting loved ones and themselves from the virus or having seen how the virus affected others. Yet, the news of the approval did give them more confidence in the vaccine.
“I had made my decision prior to the FDA approval, but having read that the FDA had approved this vaccine, yes it was a little more comforting knowing that you know that it is approved by the Food and Drug Administration,” said Michelle Knowles. She went to the gym with her mother and sister to take her first dose. Ms Knowles recounted her hesitancy at first, but noted a personal experience that highlighted the reality of the virus.
“Well, early in the year when there were so many unknowns even with the virus itself hearing so many different versions of it,” she said. “My husband had COVID earlier in the year. It came [front and] centre for me in my home so at that point you realise it’s not propaganda. COVID is real and people do get sick and they do die.”
Monique Mckenzie was hesitant in getting the vaccine but decided she needed to take it after doing research and the nature of her job as a social worker.
She also knows of at least three people who died as a result of getting COVID.
Ms McKenzie remembered: “For me, it was very heart-wrenching for the last [person] who just died two nights ago… on the Family Island, wasn’t able to come to Nassau because there were no beds or anything. So definitely that also helped me to realise that I was doing the right thing by getting the vaccination today.”
The stamp of approval from the FDA was good news to her. “Yes that was good to hear because you know even though I had made up my mind to get it I was a bit hesitant but after hearing that it has been FDA approved, yes I feel so much better now,” she added.
For Michael Lewis, the Pfizer FDA approval made him feel a bit “more confident”.
“I mean I already had my date booked before they approved it yesterday so it made me feel a bit more confident.”
Comments
bcitizen 3 years, 2 months ago
Most important thing is don't go to a vaccination center, don't listen to the news, don't listen to your pal, or a politician but, talk to a doctor you trust and knows your medical history and can answer questions to give you advice about if a vaccine or any medicine etc. is right for you or not. You and your Doctor should together be deciding what is right for you or not and your private medical information is between you and your doctor,
John 3 years, 2 months ago
‘Pfizer and BioNTech have started the process for a full approval of a booster dose of their Covid-19 vaccine in people aged 16 years and older, the drugmakers said on Wednesday.
The companies intend to complete the submission by the end of this week. This could potentially pave the way for a third dose that can be offered to people with compromised immune systems.’ Pfizer wants to start issuing third doses six months after a person is fully vaccinated rather than eight months. Why the big change? For one, the US cases are again skyrocketing and now exceeds 170,000 daily cases. The new cases can exceed 200,000 in a matter of days. Florida leads the list in the number of new cases and deaths. With the exception of Indonesia ) 1,000 plus daily deaths ) the US is recording twice as many deaths as any other country. A confirmation that vaccines alone are not effective in combating the virus. Florida is one of the states that doesn’t want to enforce mandatory mask laws, especially amongst school children. Johnson and Johnson also is pondering giving its vaccinated a second dose. The vaccine manufacturer says a second dose will dramatically increase the protection against the Delta strain especially.
DDK 3 years, 2 months ago
KaChing! KaChing!
whogothere 3 years, 2 months ago
Buys you six months - go for it...but as a few of us having saying for a while...all that glitters ain’t gold and the vac won’t provide Providence either.
www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/israel…
ThisIsOurs 3 years, 2 months ago
cnn.com - "large study involving close to 2 million people in Israel shows the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine slightly raises the risk of heart inflammation, swollen lymph nodes and shingles. But it also finds that Covid-19 infection raises the risk of heart inflammation even more -- plus it raises the risk of blood clots, heart attacks and other deadly events."
"It's the first large study to compare the risks of vaccination versus infection head to head in the same population during the same time, and it shows the risks of infection far outweigh any risks from the vaccine, the researchers said."
See here these researchers just followed data. They didnt "create" anything. We could be doing this. We have a unique population, the world could get key insights from our data. It just takes big thinking, planning and intention. Maybe too late were already 100k+ in with incomplete data.
Its nice that they acknowledge that fear of the vaccine isnt unfounded and "stupid". There are indeed reasons to fear vaccination but their data shows that even with those risks youre better off vaccinated because the risks on the other side are much greater. And you can respect that messaging.
tribanon 3 years, 2 months ago
It's unfortunate for us that Israel doesn't have a large enough black population to give us any statisticly reliable information about the potential longer term side-effects of these novel mRNA vaccines on black people. And Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson now seem to be only concerned about producing data to determine the possible side-effects for children under 12, pregnant women, those with immune-suppressed systems, etc., etc., but not black people even though the vaccination hesitancy rate among our ethnic group is understandably one of the highest if not the highest.
tribanon 3 years, 2 months ago
Oops......"statisticly reliable" in first sentence should be "reliable statistical".
ThisIsOurs 3 years, 2 months ago
Agreed. Their data is instructive for us. It should have been enough to say lets make sure we're ok here. Lets make sure "our" data also shows the vaccine isnt causing "us" harm biologically. We may find the same results but now we have confirmed data on a majority black hypertensive nation. But its like we're deaf and blind to reasonable suggestions.
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