Fauci hopes to see vaccinations for children by ‘late spring and early summer’

Top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci said on Friday during a White House coronavirus briefing that he would like to see vaccines against the disease extended to children within the next few months.

“Hopefully by the time we get to the late spring and early summer we will have children being able to be vaccinated,” Fauci said. 

Vaccines are not approved for children yet, but information on safety and effectiveness is being gathered. 

“Over the next couple of months, we will be doing trials in an age deescalation manner so that hopefully by the time we get to the late spring and early summer we will have children, being able to be vaccinated, according to the FDA guidance,” Fauci said. 

More than 80 percent of the population would have to be vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity. That number is based on adults, not children, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said. 

“Children not only have decreased rates of symptoms but have decreased rates of transmissibility. Those estimates for herd immunity are very much based on rate of transmissibility. And so, what pertains to herd immunity among adults may be different among children,” Fauci said. 

Children have not been as heavily affected by the virus as adults, but there have been some who died due to the virus.

Currently, only health care and front-line workers, the elderly and those with preexisting health conditions are eligible for the vaccine. A slow rollout of vaccine doses has hindered the ability to extend parameters to a wider population.