Dr. Anthony Fauci said COVID-19 vaccines may be required to travel to other countries or attend school.
“Everything will be on the table for debate,” Fauci, who will be the chief medical adviser to President-elect Joe Biden, told Newsweek.
The director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases stressed that “it is not up to me to make a decision,” but added that “this is a whole issue that will be discussed. [under the Biden administration]”.
“I’m not sure [the COVID-19 vaccine] it will be mandatory from a central government point of view, like federal government mandates, ”Fauci said, though he added that he is“ sure ”that some individual institutions will require firing.
Fauci said vaccination requirements in schools are “possible,” but would come from state or city-level mandates.
“A city-wide school system may require it in some cities, but not in other cities. And that’s what I mean by things that are not done centrally, but locally,” Fauci said.
As for travel, Fauci said the U.S. could issue COVID-19 vaccine passports, similar to those planned for Israel, which would allow residents to travel abroad without doing coronavirus testing.
Fauci said the coronavirus vaccine could also be required by other countries to go there.
“Therefore, in this country, we do not need it [people] get a yellow fever vaccine when you go somewhere. It’s the place you go that requires it, ”he said.
Approximately 3.2 million initial doses of Modern and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines have been administered to Americans since the inoculations were approved last month, according to a Bloomberg account.