Coronavirus Watch: FDA approves Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine

Eight months after first authorizing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration has issued full approval.

Now that the companies' detailed, biologics license application has been granted, more companies, schools and other entities are expected to require vaccination.

The FDA decision may also launch a race for booster shots, allowing doctors to prescribe extra Pfizer-BioNTech shots "off label" to anyone they think should get one. 

The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are available in the U.S. under emergency use authorization granted by the FDA. Moderna filed its requests for full approval after Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson is expected to go through the same steps in the coming months.

It's Monday, and this is Coronavirus Watch from the USA TODAY Network. Here's more news you need to know.

• New York City officials announced Monday that all Department of Education staff, including teachers, principals and custodians, will be required to get at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 27. Unlike previous vaccine mandates for municipal workers announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio, there is no option to instead submit to weekly testing.
• Former President Donald Trump at a Saturday rally in Alabama told his supporters they should get vaccinated against COVID-19 and was briefly booed. 
• The school superintendent in Tallahassee, Florida, announced Sunday that masks will be required for students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, making Leon County the seventh district to defy Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on such mandates.
• The Rev. Jesse Jackson, 79, and his wife, Jacqueline, 77, were “responding positively to treatments” while hospitalized for COVID-19, their son told The Associated Press on Sunday. 

Today's numbers: The U.S. has recorded over 37.7 million cases and 628,000 deaths from COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, over 211.9 million cases and 4.4 million deaths. More than 170.8 million Americans – 51.5% of the population – have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Tracking the pandemic: See the numbers in your area here. See where cases are rising here. See vaccination rates here. And here, compare vaccinations rates worldwide and see which countries are using which vaccines.

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– N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY breaking news reporter, @NdeaYanceyBragg