Fauci expects almost all children to be eligible for Covid vaccines by first quarter 2022 at the latest
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he thinks children of virtually any age should be able to be vaccinated against Covid-19 by the first quarter of 2022 and that people need to continue wearing masks.
Fauci reiterated a point he has previously made, that he would be surprised if high school kids can’t be vaccinated by the fall term.
“I think by the time we get to the first quarter of 2022, we’ll be able to vaccinate children of virtually any age, hopefully before then, but I think that’s going to be the latest we’ll see it,” he told CNN.
Some context: Both Moderna and Pfizer are currently in trials looking at the vaccine in children 12 and younger. Pfizer has submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration for an expanded use of its vaccine for children 12-15. It is currently authorized for people 16 years of age and older.
Fauci then explained the reason why people need to continue to wear masks, even though they have gotten the vaccine.
Firstly, he said that when a person is vaccinated their risk of getting infected dramatically diminishes and is very low.
However, there is a situation where someone can get vaccinated, have no clinical disease, but still be infected without knowing it. They can then inadvertently transmit the virus to someone who has not been vaccinated.
