Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said all children will likely be able to get a coronavirus vaccination by early next year, if not sooner.
“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,” Fauci, who is President Biden’s chief medical adviser, told CNN Sunday.
Fauci said he’d be surprised if all high school students weren’t vaccinated by the fall, CNN reported.
Pfizer’s vaccine is currently the only one authorized by the Food and Drug Administration for people 16 and older, though the drugmaker has applied to the FDA for lowering the age limit to 12. Moderna’s vaccine is currently approved for people 18 and older.
Both companies are running vaccine trials to determine safety and effectiveness in children 12 and younger, CNN reported.
In the meantime, Fauci stressed the need to continue wearing masks even once vaccinated, since vaccinated people, in rare cases, can still be asymptomatic carriers and infect unvaccinated people, CNN reported.