High school students in the United States should be able to receive COVID-19 vaccinations by the fall, with younger students likely to be released for vaccinations in early 2022, said top US official Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday.
“We predict that high school students are very likely to be vaccinated in the fall, maybe not the very first day, but certainly in the early fall,” Fauci told CBS.
He said elementary school children would likely be ready to receive vaccinations in the first quarter of next year, after studies on safety are completed.
Currently, the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are only approved for people 18 years of age and older, while the Pfizer injection is approved for people 16 years and older.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said high school students may be eligible for injections before the fall period, with younger students likely to be released for vaccinations in early 2022.
A college student in Alexandria, Virginia looks at a tablet sitting next to classmates at a desk surrounded by plastic shielding during a personal hybrid learning day
As further research continues, it is expected that the vaccines could be approved for younger children, if they are shown to be safe and effective for children.
In most states, decisions about whether schools should be open are made at the local level. Iowa, Arkansas, Texas, and Florida have ordered all of their schools to remain open, and West Virginia requires elementary schools to hold classes.
Fauci also said he expected the CDC to issue relaxed guidelines for people already vaccinated within “ the next few days, ” but urged to remain vigilant about mitigating measures for the more than 80 percent of Americans who are still on shots await.
‘We’re going in the right direction. We just have to hang around there a bit longer, ”Fauci said.
“ We want to get those death rates from the virus very, very low, and then we’ll have a much, much easier time to retire safely ” on mitigating measures.
The United States now vaccinates an average of 2.1 million people a day, but the progress made against the virus over the past month is showing signs of declining.
Nationally, the US reported a 3 percent drop in new cases of COVID-19 last week, a much smaller drop than in the previous six weeks.
According to an analysis by Reuters, the number of new cases fell by a whopping 25 percent in the week ending Feb. 7 and 23 percent in the week ending Feb. 21.
The drop in the number of cases started to level off with 60,000 to 70,000 new infections per day, which was unacceptable according to Fauci.
He pointed out the need to continue with mask mandates and other risk mitigation measures to avoid a resurgence as new variants emerge.
A new variant spread in the New York City area and proved “quite potent” in its ability to spread and somewhat escaped the protection afforded by monoclonal antibodies and the vaccines, he said.
Signs calling for schools to be reopened in Los Angeles are displayed by people in passing vehicles last month during an ‘Open Schools Now’ rally via motorhome last month
A student raises his hand to ask a question on March 2 in Alexandria, Virginia
“ One of the things I think we should point out is that every day that goes by that we’re in control, things are going to get better and better because now we put at least two million vaccinations every day in the arms of individuals, ” he said.
And as the days and weeks go by, you have more and more protection, not just from individuals, but also from the community. So we are moving in the right direction. We just have to hang around there a bit longer. ‘
Fauci said the supply of vaccines will “increase dramatically” in the coming weeks as production increases.
The United States has administered 90,351,750 doses of COVID-19 vaccines and distributed 116,363,405 doses as of Sunday morning, the CDC said.
The agency said 58,873,710 people had received one or more doses, while 30,686,881 people received the second dose as of Sunday.
A total of 7,389,102 vaccine doses have been administered in long-term care settings, the agency said.