James Brooks, in the ADN on June 30, correctly wrote that the COVID-19 vaccines are authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration. An authorization for emergency is the less rigorous category of approval by the FDA that allows the vaccines to be distributed more quickly.
There is also a next step — a “full approval” category. Pfizer and Moderna have applied to the FDA for such an approval a couple of months ago, and by law, such an approval is required by the end of the year. Such an approval would allow drug manufacturers to advertise their own product and to set their own prices.
— Rudy J. Budesky
Anchorage
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