US Drug Regulators Approve Future Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccines

A nurse is handed a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine before administering it to a college student at a mobile vaccination clinic at the California State University–Long Beach campus in California on Aug. 11, 2021. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. drug regulators on Aug. 23 approved a new COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech for people 16 and older, making it the first such shot to receive full approval in the country.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the vaccine, which will be known as Comirnaty, proved effective in a clinical trial of approximately 44,000 people. The shot was 91 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 infection, regulators said, and also was effective in preventing severe disease and hospitalization.