FDA

All intensive care unit beds for COVID-19 patients in Arkansas are full, with those people making up roughly half of all ICU patients in the state. That’s according to Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who said in his weekly coronavirus briefing Tuesday the state’s hospital capacity is at its lowest point since the pandemic began.

Some Arkansans may have one less reason to be reluctant about getting a COVID-19 vaccine. On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration announced it had given full approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine.

The number of COVID-19 patients on ventilators in Arkansas reached a new high on Monday as Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he hoped the full approval of Pfizer's vaccine would encourage more people in the state to get the shots against the virus.

Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted 20-0 to recommend that the agency authorize Moderna's vaccine for emergency use during the pandemic. There was a single abstention.

A panel of experts advising the Food and Drug Administration will weigh the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech in a daylong public meeting. The committee will vote on whether the FDA should authorize the vaccine for emergency use during the pandemic.