Fauci on school COVID-19 vaccine mandates: A ‘good idea’ [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Dr. Anthony Fauci believes that COVID-19 vaccination mandates for children going to school would be ‘a good idea.’ 
• In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Dr. Fauci said that vaccine mandates for students aren’t new. 
• Currently, there is no available vaccine for children below 12 years old.

Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that he supports the idea of mandating coronavirus vaccine for eligible children going to school.

The U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert also noted that such mandates already exist for other infectious diseases such as measles and mumps.

As of now, only kids above twelve years old are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Answering a question about a public school district in Culver City, California, mandating vaccines not only for staff but also the students, Fauci said he expects the FDA and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to establish “the safety and the strong benefit-risk ratio for the children.”

“When that gets established, which I believe it certainly will, … I believe that mandating vaccines for children to appear in school is a good idea.”

He reminded viewers that the US already has mandated vaccines “in many places, in schools, particularly public schools, that if in fact, you want a child to come in — we’ve done this for decades and decades — requiring polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis [vaccines.] So this would not be something new, requiring vaccinations for children to come to school,” he continued.

The Los Angeles County school district is reported to be the first in the US to mandate the Covid-19 vaccine, according to NPR. Students going to attend school are required to provide proof of vaccination by Nov. 19.

According to county public health data, almost 88 percent of Culver City’s total eligible population is vaccinated with at least one dose, as is over 84 percent of the children aged 12 to 17. Both of these numbers are among the highest in the county.

School districts have become a flashpoint in the public policy battle to curb the spread of the virus as the Delta variant fuels surge in new cases across the country.

California has required all K-12 school employees to be vaccinated or take coronavirus tests on a weekly basis. Some school districts have even taken the order a step further and not allowed staff members to opt-out of the vaccines and take tests. According to the Los Angeles Times, California also has a list of existing school vaccine requirements, including polio, tetanus, measles, diphtheria and pertussis.

Source: Yahoo News