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“We hope we’ll be there… but there’s no guarantee because it’s up to us,” CNN’s Anderson Cooper told CNN Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and medical adviser on Monday. head of the president.
Health experts are not yet sure exactly what proportion of the population needs to be vaccinated to achieve a level of protection that could support a return to normalcy, such as safely going to restaurants and theaters, Fauci said. So the best way forward is to vaccinate as many people as possible, he said.
On Monday, the United States Food and Drug Administration fully approved the Pfizer / BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for people 16 years of age and older.
But some experts are skeptical of increasing vaccination rates just because of the approval.
“I think there will be a modest increase, but look, we have a long way to go to close this gap,” said vaccinologist and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, Dr Peter Hotez. “I think having full approval will certainly convince some of it, but this is just one of the twelve false talking points put forward by the disinformation campaign. And, I think a number of people will just go back to one of the others. “
Several false claims about Covid-19 vaccines have posed a challenge to vaccinating more Americans, Dr Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said on Monday. Some of them include false claims about infertility, microchips, and death.
“Be clear: these claims are just not true. Getting a Covid-19 vaccine can save your life, ”Marks said.
The thing that can really motivate people to get these life-saving vaccines, Hotez said, is whether the permission paves the way for employers, businesses and schools to mandate vaccinations.
Governors and schools make vaccines compulsory
Already, some government agencies and schools are calling for mandatory vaccinations.
“This morning’s announcement that the Federal Food and Drug Administration has fully approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccination removes any doubt about the science and effectiveness of COVID vaccines,” Cuomo said.
The state already requires that all eligible government and health workers be vaccinated.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy also announced a vaccination mandate on Monday. All state employees, which include preschools up to 12 public schools and universities, must be fully immunized by Oct. 18 or undergo regular testing, Murphy said.
Professors and staff will be “expected” to attest to their immunization status from Tuesday, according to the letter.
Fight the Delta variant
One factor that has raised concerns about the spread of Covid-19 is the more transmissible Delta variant.
Pfizer is making a vaccine specifically targeting the Delta variant, but Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Monday he didn’t think it would be necessary because the current vaccine is so effective.
“We are currently making a specialized vaccine for Delta,” Bourla told NBC. “I’m pretty sure we won’t need it.
Authorities have started preparing for the administration of recalls to protect against the variant in the fall and winter. But health experts say the measure is a precaution – not a sign that vaccines already in use are ineffective.
“There is various real-world evidence emerging here that suggests the vaccine is still effective against the Delta variant,” Marks said. “The data from Israel seems to suggest that over time immunity to the vaccine tends to wane, so this is something we will be monitoring closely.”
Children still waiting
As health experts celebrate the first full approval of a Covid-19 vaccine, many still have questions about how children will be protected.
The approval only extends to adolescents 16 and older, which means 12 to 15 year olds are still vaccinated under emergency use authorizations. And many parents have waited for vaccine protection for even younger children.
The FDA stressed Monday that approval does not mean the vaccine can be used “off label” in children under 12, saying it “would not be appropriate.”
Off-label refers to an approved product used in a manner or in a patient for which it was not necessarily approved.
Vaccines for this age group are still ongoing, and enough data for them could be available by mid-fall for Pfizer and a little later for Moderna, Fauci said.
The FDA will then review the data and conduct a risk-benefit analysis, Fauci said.
“It could take a few more months, so we don’t know whether or not we’re going to get the regulatory decision by late fall, early winter or even the following year,” Fauci said.
Fauci said the decision to authorize the vaccine for this age group is “fundamentally based on safety.”
“I don’t think there is any question of it being effective in children at this younger age. I have no doubt about it,” Fauci said. “It will be a security issue.”
CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas, Virginia Langmaid, Laura Ly, Taylor Romine, Jennifer Henderson, Kara Devlin, and Jacqueline Howard contributed to this report.
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