Fauci says he would back vaccine mandates for teachers

The doctor said the mandates would have to come from the state and local level

The Biden administration's top viral expert has advocated for mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations for school teachers, as infection rates are on the rise among children.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, says a vaccine mandate for teachers should be considered to protect children from the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus.

He made the comments Tuesday on MSNBC.

"I'm going to upset some people on this, but I think we should [require vaccinations for teachers]," he said.

He said the coronavirus situation in the US has become "critical" ahead of the coming school year.

"We've had 615,000-plus deaths, and we are in a major surge now as we're going into the fall, into the school season," he said. "This is very serious business."

He conceded that such mandates would not come from the federal level. The Biden administration has been hands-off regarding sweeping mandates, opting instead to leave those decisions to individual states.

Dr Fauci believes that mandates will become more common once the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fully approves the coronavirus vaccines, which is expected to occur within weeks. The vaccines are currently in use under an emergency authorisation given by the USFDA in December.

"It's gonna happen. Guaranteed it's gonna happen," Dr Fauci said.

While vaccine mandates are likely to increase, the states facing the worst infection rates – like Louisiana and Florida – may not allow such measures from local governments or state legislatures.

Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, currently the second-most infected place on the planet, has used his executive power to end emergency mandates local governments have put in place that restrict the ability for businesses to operate. He also banned any mandate requiring students to wear masks when they return to school in the fall, even threatening to withhold school leaders' salaries if they require children to mask up.

While Mr DeSantis has recommended that Florida residents take the vaccine, it is unclear if he would allow an actual mandate forcing teachers or other employees to take the shot.

In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott has also balked at mask mandates for students. Similar to Mr DeSantis, he supports the vaccine, but it is unclear if he would allow a vaccine mandate for teachers.

Dr Fauci's views on a vaccine mandate for teachers was echoed by Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest teachers unions in the US. She said she would like to see her union working with school districts to develop vaccine mandates for their teachers.

"It weighs really heavily on me that kids under 12 can't get vaccinated," she told NBC News.

Ms Weingarten is not the only one lamenting the inability for children under 12 to take the shot. The president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Lee Savio Beers, wrote a letter urging the US Food and Drug Administration to fast track approval of the vaccines for children under 12.

“Last week saw the largest week-over-week percentage increase in pediatric Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic,” the letter reads. “Simply stated, the Delta variant has created a new and pressing risk to children and adolescents across this country, as it has also done for unvaccinated adults.”

The AAP reported that coronavirus cases in children jumped 85 per cent for the week ending 29 July. While children generally do not suffer the most severe symptoms of Covid-19, those with compromised immune systems are still at risk. Children can also transmit the virus to each other and to adults.

He concluded by saying the benefit of approving the vaccines outweighed the risk of allowing the Delta variant to continue spreading among children.

The US Centres for Disease Control recommends that all teachers, students and staff wear masks when they return to school in the fall.