Dr. Anthony Fauci said COVID-19 vaccines would be mandatory to travel to other countries or go to school.
“Everything will be on the table for discussion,” Fauci, who will be chief medical adviser to President-elect Joe Biden, told Newsweek.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases stressed that it is “not up to me to make a decision”, but adds that “these are all things that will be discussed [under the Biden administration]. ”
“I’m not sure [the COVID-19 vaccine] from a central government point of view will be mandatory, such as the federal government mandates, “Fauci said, although he added that he was” sure “that some individual institutions would need the shot.
Fauci said the vaccine needs in schools are ‘possible’, but it comes from mandates at the state or city level.
A city-wide school system may need it in some cities, but not in other cities. And that is what I mean by things that are not done centrally but locally, ”Fauci said.
In terms of travel, Fauci said the US could possibly issue COVID-19 vaccine passports – similar to those planned for Israel, which would allow residents to travel abroad without being tested for coronavirus.
The coronavirus vaccine may also be required by other countries to go there, Fauci said.
‘We, in this country, therefore do not require [people] to get a yellow fever vaccine if you are going somewhere. This is the place you are going to, that requires it, ”he said.
About 3.2 million initial doses of the Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech vaccines have been given to Americans since the vaccine was first approved last month, according to a Bloomberg version.