One can imagine that unvaccinated children could go to camp or playgrounds this summer, says Fauci

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Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has previously said elementary school-aged children are unlikely to be vaccinated until the first quarter of 2022, as vaccine developers have continued to study their effects in children.

Fauci stressed that it is important that Covid-19 continues to decline and that infections do not peak at a high level. But he pointed to the pace of vaccinations for the rest of the population as a main factor, saying there are now between 3 and 3.5 million vaccinations every day.

“If we continue at this rate, invariably it’s going to drive the rate and level of infections per day to a much, much lower level,” he said.

“If we come to the summer and you have a considerable percentage of the population vaccinated, and the community level drops below this plateau which concerns me and my colleagues in public health,” he said. he said, “It’s conceivable that you have a good degree of flexibility during the summer, even with kids with things like camps. ”

“We don’t know for sure,” he warned, “but I think it’s an ambitious goal that we should be aiming for.

Fully vaccinated people can congregate indoors without masks or social distancing, according to advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They could also visit unvaccinated people who are at low risk of contracting serious Covid-19, but should be limited to one unvaccinated household at a time.

Just over 15% of the U.S. population has been fully immunized, according to CDC data. But each of the vaccines on the U.S. market has only been licensed for adults, although Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine is also licensed for people 16 years of age and older.

The trials are continuing. Last week, children were injected into Pfizer’s Phase 1 trial in children under 12. The previous week, the first children were vaccinated in Moderna’s Phase 2 pediatric trial, which includes children aged 6 months to 11 years.

Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson have announced plans to start testing their vaccine in children between the ages of 12 and 18, and the CEO of the company has said they will likely have a vaccine for children under the age of 18 years by September.

On Sunday, Fauci also reiterated the importance of the safety of children when they go out in the community, even if the adults in their lives have been vaccinated.

“You want them to continue to wear masks when interacting with groups from multiple households,” he said.

CNN’s Lauren Mascaren contributed to this report.

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