It may soon be “go” time for providers that have thus far held off on mandating COVID-19 vaccines for staff members, basing their decisions on the fact vaccines have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration only under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).
President Joe Biden has unofficially set a Labor Day (Sept. 6) deadline for the agency to fully approve Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, according to a New York Times report Wednesday. The accelerated timeline comes amid a surge of the delta variant; nearly 90,000 new cases were reported in the U.S. on Monday.
The hope among many long-term care leaders is that when the vaccine receives full federal approval, the overall staff vaccination rate will reach at least the 75% goal that industry leaders set months ago. The figure currently is about 58.6%.
“A number of universities and hospitals, the Defense Department and at least one major city, San Francisco, are expected to mandate inoculation once a vaccine is fully approved. Final approval could also help mute misinformation about the safety of vaccines and clarify legal issues about mandates,” report authors explained.
Ohio-based operator Continuing Healthcare Solutions is among those who announced plans to wait until the COVID-19 vaccinations receive full federal approval before enforcing its inoculation mandate on employees. The operator initially announced its vaccine mandate in late March before delaying the requirement after listening to staff concerns about the vaccines still being under the EUA designation.
Moderna also has filed for full approval and is still submitting supporting data to the federal government. Administration officials have asked the company to finish submitting data quickly, which could mean the federal government wants to accelerate that timeline, as well, according to the news report.
