Requiring students to receive vaccines against COVID-19 is a “good idea,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday as the nation headed into the back-to-school season.
The nation’s leading infectious disease expert reflected on the question of whether school children should receive a score on CNN’s “State of the Union”.
“I think ordering vaccines for kids to show up at school is a good idea,” Fauci told host Jake Tapper.
Fauci said he does not expect federal vaccine mandates for students, but “definitely” believes the premises will be imposed as the Pfizer vaccine has been fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
“This is nothing new,” the White House chief medical adviser continued. “We have mandates in many places in schools, especially public schools, that if you actually want a child to come, we’ve done it for decades and decades [vaccines for] poliomyelitis, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis.
“So that wouldn’t be a new thing, it would require vaccines for kids to come to school.”
New York State public school students are already required to receive several doses of nine different vaccines throughout their training.
Currently, the FDA-approved Pfizer vaccine is only approved for people over the age of 16, although there is still an emergency authorization for children ages 12 to 16.
Moderna and Johnson & Johnson features have been approved for emergency use in over-18s by the FDA.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that anyone over the age of 12 be able to oppose COVID.
According to USA Today, certain colleges and universities that require vaccinating students have already expelled some students who do not meet the requirements.
Forty-nine students were dropped out of the University of Virginia last week for failing to be inoculated on July 1, which the school ordered on May 20, the media reported.
New York City requires teachers and staff to receive at least the first shot before Sept. 27
Some states such as California, Washington and New Jersey have already established mask mandates for school staff in their states.
Washington became the first state in the nation to require vaccines for teachers and other school employees at all levels. Employees who are not fully vaccinated before October 18 will need to be fired.
California has also required vaccines for teachers and staff, but has offered the alternative option of testing the virus once a week.
New Jersey followed the same case last week, making vaccinations mandatory for all preschool staff up to 12th grade, but they offered the option to be tested twice a week.
On Sunday, Fauci said he was “sure” Americans would need booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine, but how long they will have to wait to get them may change.
“I’m sure we’ll need this third dose, looking at the data we’re seeing,” the White House chief medical officer told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”