Milestone achieved: full FDA approval of COVID-19 vaccine recently announced

Any of the authorized vaccines will help to keep you safe against COVID-19 and the Delta variant

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration gave full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for eligible people aged 16 and up. While it's the first to receive this designation, all available COVID-19 vaccines have been proven safe, effective and authorized for emergency use. The State remains focused on vaccinating as many eligible Coloradans as possible.

"We want Coloradans to be as comfortable as possible in getting vaccinated against COVID-19. For some Coloradans who have been on the fence that may mean choosing a vaccine that has been fully approved by the FDA. Coloradans now have that choice with the Pfizer vaccine. Our State is fortunate that our supply is robust enough that Coloradans have many options for the vaccine," said Dr. Eric France, Chief Medical Officer at CDPHE. "We also want to remind everyone that all three of the available vaccines have gone through rigorous testing and more than 362 million doses have already been administered in the United States. Scientists and doctors throughout the country agree that all of the available vaccines are safe and effective and it's much safer to choose to be vaccinated than risk getting COVID-19."

From Jan. 1 through Aug. 16, 98 percent of COVID-19 cases reported in Colorado have been among the unvaccinated, which is why the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment strongly encourages all Coloradans ages 12 and up to get vaccinated without delay.

The vaccine also continues to be available under emergency use authorization, including for individuals 12 through 15 years of age and for the administration of a third dose in certain immunocompromised individuals. The State has enough vaccine supply for providers to keep up with any increased demand related to today's FDA announcement and provide eligible Coloradans with an additional dose. We are expecting approval of a booster dose for the general population in September and are planning for that stage of this response.

It has now been nine months since the vaccine was made available and more than 3.5 million Coloradans have received at least one dose of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. 3.2 million are fully immunized.

Continue to stay up to date by visiting covid19.colorado.gov.