Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that if more people are not persuaded to get vaccinated through messages from health officials and “trusted political messengers,” warrants may be needed. additional schools and companies.
“I think that’s going to change that because I don’t think people want to go to work or not go to college … They will,” Fauci told Jen Christensen of CNN during an interview with the NLGJA, the Association of LGBTQ Journalists, convention Sunday. “You’d like them to do it completely voluntarily, but if that doesn’t work, you have to go for alternatives.”
The combination of Delta’s highly contagious variant and vaccines has put the United States in a “very difficult period” of the Covid-19 pandemic, Fauci said.
Of the eligible population in the U.S., which is currently limited to people over the age of 12, 63 percent are fully vaccinated, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health experts and officials want the vast majority of the population to be inoculated to control the spread.
Companies that want employees to return to work and stay in work will benefit from vaccination requirements, said U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. The mandate will also benefit employees, he added.
“I think this will not only improve public health, but give people more peace of mind,” Murthy told CNN on Sunday.
But Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson argued the requirements could be counterproductive.
“We have to overcome resistance,” Hutchinson said on Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “This is a very serious deadly virus and we are all trying to achieve a higher level of vaccination in the population. The problem is that I am trying to overcome resistance, but the actions of the president in one term toughen the resistance.”
As the debate over mandates continues, some hospitals feel the impact of delayed vaccination rates.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis sounded the alarm on Friday and said, “Actually, we have the lowest ICU rate we’ve had since the beginning of this crisis, in part because of vaccination with Covid and just other types of trauma that increase seasonally at this time of year. “
Polis said some hospitals in his state “come very close to their capacity limits. And that wouldn’t happen if people were vaccinated.”
Children could access vaccines for Halloween
Parents concerned about protecting their young children from the virus could have access to Halloween vaccines for Halloween, the former U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner said.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who is a member of Pfizer’s board of directors, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the company is expected to have data on vaccinations for children ages 5 to 11 prepared for to the FDA in late September.
“The FDA says it will be a matter of weeks, not months, deciding whether to authorize vaccines for children ages 5 to 11. I interpret that maybe it’s four weeks, maybe six weeks,” Gottlieb said.
While hoping vaccines for young children will be available soon, the FDA warned parents not to compete to vaccinate their children before the agency approves.
“Children are not young adults, and problems that can be treated in pediatric vaccine trials may include whether different doses or different strength formulations of vaccines already used for adults are needed,” the FDA said in a statement Friday.
Until this age group can be safely vaccinated, Dr. James Versalovic, chief pathologist at Texas Children’s Hospital, told CBS that prevention is crucial.
“In addition to prevention … we must continue to emphasize to all parents and families the importance of timely diagnosis through testing,” Versalovic said. “And then select the right care. Decide if this child needs hospital care. We know how to treat children at this time of the pandemic.”
New York will welcome 100% of students
Concern about children’s risk of becoming infected has increased as many return to their classrooms for a new school year.
Monday is the first time New York City public schools have expected 100% of students since last school year.
“We’ve been working for 18 months to prepare for this day,” New York Education Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter told CNN in an interview Friday.
Last week, New York Mayor Bill De Blasio announced that 72% of teachers are vaccinated and 65% of students ages 12 to 17 have had at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
In some parts of the country, the return to campus has coincided with an increase in pediatric cases.
Versalovic, at Texas Children’s Hospital, said, “We continue to be on a plateau. The reality is that we will be heading for another peak or another valley if we all come together.”
Putting students in “pods” in schools and doing asymptomatic routine testing can help reduce transmission, Gottlieb said.
“Instead of quarantining that whole classroom, you just have to test them seriously to make sure you didn’t have an exposure that led to a later case, so you can use evidence to avoid quarantine.” Gottlieb said during an Axios event Friday.
CNN’s Jen Christensen, Jessica Firger, Elizabeth Stuart, Dakin Andone, Aya Elamroussi and Holly Yan contributed to this report.