Kemp urges FDA for full approval of COVID-19 vaccines to 'instill greater confidence'
ATLANTA - Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to give the COVID-19 vaccines their full approval to "instill greater confidence in our most effective weapon against this virus."
"Please exercise the regulatory authority granted to you by law and fully authorize the COVID-19 vaccines without delay," the governor wrote.
Gov. Kemp cited a Kaiser Family Foundation study that states:
"…three in ten unvaccinated adults, rising to about half of those in the ‘wait and see’ group, say they would be more likely to get vaccinated if one of the vaccines currently authorized for emergency use were to receive full approval from the FDA."
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp gives an update on COVID-19 vaccine distribution across the state March 16, 2020. (FOX 5)
In the letter to the FDA, Kemp wrote in part:
"The data could not be more clear – the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and highly effective. More than eight million doses have been administered in the State of Georgia, with more than half of our eligible population having received at least one dose of the vaccine as of this week. To accelerate vaccinations, in the coming days, my administration will announce new efforts to urge those who have not been vaccinated to do so.
"It is imperative that we as leaders take every possible action to strengthen confidence in our most valuable weapon to prevent severe cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Each Day, the Administration delays the inevitable and full approval of the vaccines is lost time we cannot get back."
The letter was sent as the Georgia Department of Public Health reports a single-day jump in new cases not seen since January, hospitalizations topping 3,000 and a steady increase in daily deaths reported from the virus. The GDPH reported 4,154 new overnight on Friday afternoon bringing the two-week average to 2,568. Hospitalizations were at 3,028 by Friday afternoon, a six-fold increase over a month ago, according to GDPH data.
More than two dozen hospitals in the state said this week that they have had to turn away patients amid the rising COVID cases.
"Every hospital in our region is stretched to its limit," said Scott Steiner, president and CEO of Albany, Georgia-based Phoebe Putney Health System. The system has gone from eight to 97 COVID patients in a month.
The vast majority of people who have been hospitalized around the state are not vaccinated. Kemp said the state inoculated 20,000 people last week, up from weeks with roughly half that number. Still, only 41% of state residents are fully vaccinated, a significantly lower rate than other states. Kemp urged people to talk to their doctors and other people they trust about the vaccines.
"Every person we get vaccinated, it helps us make it harder to spread," he said.
To help boost vaccination rates, state health officials on Friday announced plans for pop-up art events this summer that will encourage people to get inoculated and offer shots on site without an appointment.
SEE ALSO: Gov. Kemp visits Cherokee County elementary school, reiterates support for local control
Earlier in the day, Kemp speaking at an elementary school in Cherokee County that reopened this week said the state has seen an increase in COVID-19 vaccinations since a rise in infections fueled by the delta variant of the virus, but some people may never be willing to take the shots, and he reiterated his opposition to COVID-related mandates, saying he doesn’t believe "we need to have a dictatorship in government."
"This is not preventing anyone from wearing a mask if they’d rather do that or feel uncomfortable, but it’s not forcing a mandate that really at this point is divisive with our society," he said. "We should be focused on getting people vaccinated."
With the delta variant spreading rapidly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics have advised in recent weeks that everyone in schools wear masks in communities with substantial or high transmission.
But educators have had to contend with strong resistance to masks from some parents and political leaders, including Kemp, despite nationwide data showing school-age children now have infection rates higher than adults 50 and older.
Athens, Savannah, and Atlanta have all reinstituted mask mandates. Several school districts also have decided to implement mask mandates for the new year.
District officials at the school Kemp visited have not required face coverings, but at least 28 of Georgia’s more than 180 school districts encompassing more than 38% of the state’s public school students are requiring masks. The tiny Taliaferro County School District in northeast Georgia announced this week that it was suspending in-person instruction for two weeks starting Aug. 4 because of COVID.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report