What did Dr Fauci say on vaccine mandate for school children?
Dr Anthony Fauci thinks schools mandating vaccination against covid-19 for students is a “good idea” due to “strong benefit-risk ratio for the children.”
Schools across the country have had disruptions to their planned opening schedules, delaying the start of the fall term or closing their doors since opening in August. The Delta covid-19 variant has caused a spike in cases especially among children with areas of low vaccination the most affected.
One California school district, Culver City Unified, has already mandated students 12 and older be able to show proof of covid-19 vaccination by 19 November. Dr Fauci when asked about covid-19 vaccine mandates not just for school staff but also for students said “I believe that mandating vaccines for children to appear in school is a good idea."
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“We have mandates in many places in schools”
Dr Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on CNN's "State of the Union" told Jake Tapper “if you get the informatu about the safety and the strong benefit-risk ratio for the children (school mandates for children are) a good idea.” He acknowledged “a lot of people will be pushing back against that.”
"We've done this for decades and decades, requiring (children be vaccinated against) polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis," Dr Fauci said. The Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 recently gained full approval for use in those 16 and older, and has emergency use authorization for those between the ages of 12 and 15.
Pfizer covid-19 could be available for children 5 to 11 by the end of the year
There is no authorized use of any of the covid-19 vaccines for Children under 12 at this time, but Dr Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA commissioner who is on the board of Pfizer, gave a timeline of when that could happen. Speaking on CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday Dr Gottlieb said the drug maker should “be in a position to file data with the FDA (for emergency use authorization for kids 5 to 11) at some point in September and then file the application potentially as early as October.”
The Pfizer vaccine would “probably” be available early winter depending on how long it takes the FDA to review the data. Historically, it has taken “four to six weeks to review these authorizations,” Dr Gottlieb said. “They're (probably) going to base their decision on what the circumstances (are) around the country, what the urgency is to get to a vaccine for kids.”
Data on the next tier of kids, those aged 2 to 5, “is going to be available in November” Dr Gottlieb added.