The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Monday granted full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech's cornavirus vaccine for people ages 16 and older, which San Diego leaders hope will remove some doubt from those who have been hesitant to receive a shot.
The vaccine, the first to move beyond emergency use status in the United States, will now be marketed as Comirnaty.
"The COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective and free," said San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher.
"Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reinforced it by granting Pfizer its full approval. To protect our community, we need all San Diegans to get vaccinated."
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Approval is still pending for the Johnson & Johnson and Moderna coronavirus vaccines.
With the Delta variant continuing to surge, San Diego County public health officials reported 961 new COVID-19 infections.
The data increased the county's cumulative case number to 324,537. No new deaths were reported, and that number remains 3,848.
There were eight additional coronavirus-related hospitalizations reported Monday
A count of those hospitalized is only released by the county Health and Human Services Administration weekly, on Wednesdays.
The were 599 people hospitalized with the coronavirus in San Diego County Wednesday when the latest figures were released. More than 150 additional patients have been hospitalized since then.
There were 200 patients hospitalized one month ago.
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There have been four more people admitted to intensive care units since Sunday. There were 148 patients in intensive care units as of Wednesday, an increase of nearly 100 since July 19, when 52 people were in ICU beds with COVID-19.
According to Scripps Health, there were 173 COVID-positive patients at its five San Diego County hospitals as of Friday, compared to 13 on June 15, when California dropped much of its pandemic restrictions.
A total of 12,076 tests were reported Monday, and the percentage of new positive cases over the past week was 8.3%.
As of Wednesday, San Diego County's case rate per 100,000 residents was 28.7 for the general population, but that can be parsed further to just six for fully vaccinated residents and 55.7 for those not fully vaccinated, data show.
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The average daily case rate July 7 was 2.7 per 100,000.
Officials expect the number of reported cases to keep increasing as more schools and businesses are requiring COVID testing.
