Dr. Fauci: School Covid-19 vaccine mandates are a 'good idea'

 

Dr. Fauci: School Covid-19 vaccine mandates are a 'good idea'

Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that getting children the Covid-19 vaccines to go to school in person is a "good idea" because of the solid risk-benefit ratio.

"I think it's a good idea to get kids to show up at school with vaccinations,"  he believed the FDA as well as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which advises the CDC, would create a solid risk-benefit ratio for this, especially given the Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine now has final approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

There has been intense debate over vaccine mandates for school children, even though none of the Covid-19 vaccines widely available has been authorized for use in people younger than 12 years old. In recent months, it has become more prominent as the highly transmissible Delta Covid-19 variant.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stressed Sunday that  ​​mandating vaccinations for children in schools is not new.

 We have mandates vaccine in many places in schools, especially public schools if you want a child to come in – we've done that for decades and decades that require (vaccines) for polio, measles, mumps, rubella, and hepatitis." "So this wouldn't be anything new, requiring vaccinations for kids to go to school."

ACIP will meet on Monday to discuss the safety and efficacy data for the fully approved Pfizer vaccine.

Ex-senior official sets timeline for approval of children's vaccine

Dr. Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the FDA and a member of the Pfizer Board of Directors, on Sunday gave some additional thoughts on the licensing schedule for a Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11, telling CBS News that the drug maker will be in a position to From submitting data for "sometime in September" permission.

Gottlieb went on to say that Pfizer can then apply for emergency use authorization for this age group, "likely as early as October."

"This will put us in a time frame where vaccines could be available sometime in late fall, most likely early winter, depending on how long it takes the FDA to review an application," he said.

Gottlieb also noted that "historically, it has taken four to six weeks to review these licenses," but that it could take longer than that depending on how much long-term follow-up data the FDA requires.

"They will base their decision on conditions across the country and the need to get a vaccine for children," Gottlieb said.