TUCSON— Today, Rep. Grijalva released the following statement after Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine becomes first to get full FDA approval. 

“Today’s full FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine is a welcomed development. I hope that it will mark yet another turning point in the fight against COVID-19,” said Rep. Grijalva. “The scientific community came together, and with massive federal investments, developed a safe and highly effective vaccine. Despite the medical community’s agreement that the vaccines are safe, I understand that some continue to be hesitant because they were approved on an Emergency Use basis. Today everyone can have even more confidence in this vaccine – the benefits are clear.”  

“This has become a pandemic of the unvaccinated as our hospitals are flooded with individuals that have chosen not to be vaccinated, or those that are not yet eligible, including young children” said Grijalva. “Unvaccinated people are still more likely to contract and spread COVID, and much more likely to become hospitalized. I hope this announcement will put many of the falsehoods and anti-vaccination misinformation campaigns to rest.  I am once again calling on social media companies to do more to stop the massive spread of misinformation on their platforms. These anti-vaccination campaigns are profiting off people’s deaths, and we cannot allow this to continue.”  

According to Kaiser Family Foundation 94% of new infections in Arizona are people that are unvaccinated.  Since July 1, Banner hospital system reported COVID-19 hospitalizations increased by 95% with ventilator usage increasing by 300%, mostly among unvaccinated patients. 

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