High school students in the United States should be able to receive COVID-19 vaccines before the fall, with younger students likely to be cleared for vaccinations in early 2022, U.S. chief infectious disease officer Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday.
‘We’re projecting that it’s very likely that high school students will get the vaccine before the fall term, maybe not the first day, but definitely at the beginning of the fall,’ Fauci told CBS.
He said primary school children would be ready to receive vaccines by the first quarter of next year, after safety checks were completed.
Currently, the vaccines from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are only approved for those 18 and older, while the Pfizer bullet is cleared for those as young as 16.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said high school students may be eligible for photos before the fall term, with younger students likely to be cleared for vaccinations in early 2022
A student in Alexandria, Virginia looks at a tabletop next to classmates at a desk surrounded by a plastic shield during a personal hybrid learning day
As more studies are done, it is expected that the vaccines could be cleared for younger children, if they are proven to be safe and effective for children.
In most states, decisions about whether schools should be open are made at a local level. Iowa, Arkansas, Texas and Florida have ordered all of their schools to be open, and West Virginia is asking primary schools to hold classes.
Fauci also said he expected the CDC to issue a gentle guide for people who had already received the vaccine within ‘the next two or three days,’ but urged to continue. an ongoing look at discount measures for more than 80 percent of Americans who are still waiting for pictures.
‘We’re going the right way. We just have to hang in there a little longer, ‘said Fauci.
‘We want to get those death rates from the virus very, very low, and then we will have a much easier time to safely withdraw’ on mitigation measures.
The United States now vaccinates an average of 2.1 million people a day – but anti – virus gains over the past month have shown a decline.
Nationwide, the U.S. reported a 3 percent decline in new cases of COVID-19 last week, a much smaller drop than in the previous six weeks.
New cases fell as much as 25 percent in the week to Feb. 7 and 23 percent in the week to Feb. 21, ahead of last week’s high, according to a Reuters survey.
The decline in cases had started to continue at 60,000 to 70,000 new infections per day, which Fauci said would be unacceptable.
He highlighted the need to follow masonry orders and other mitigation measures to avoid resurgence as new changes emerge.
A new variant was spreading in the New York City area and proved ‘somewhat volatile’ in its ability to disperse and eliminate some of the protections offered by monoclonal antibodies and the vaccines, he said. .
Signs calling for Los Angeles schools to reopen are being displayed by people in passing vehicles at the “Open Schools Now” rally through a car caravan last month.
A student raises his hand to ask a question in Alexandria, Virginia on March 2nd
‘One of the things I think we should point out is that every day that passes we keep the cover of things getting better and better because we now putting at least two million vaccines in the arms of individuals every day, ‘he said.
‘And as the days and weeks go by, you have more and more protection, not just from individuals, but from the community. So we’re going in the right direction. We need to hang in there a little longer. ‘
Fauci said vaccine supply would be ‘significantly increased’ in the coming weeks as production ramps rise.
The United States has administered 90,351,750 doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Sunday morning and has dispensed 116,363,405 doses, the CDC said.
The group said 58,873,710 people had received one or more doses and 30,686,881 people had received a second dose since Sunday.
A total of 7,389,102 vaccine doses were given in long-term care facilities, the group said.