High school students could get COVID-19 vaccine by fall

High school students could begin to get vaccinated against COVID-19 when they return to classes in the fall, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday.

“That will likely occur in the fall. I can’t say that it will be on day one when the school starts in the fall term,” Fauci told anchor Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”

The Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said officials are awaiting the results of trials that test the shot’s efficacy on the younger population.

“Hopefully by the time we get to the fall term, they will be vaccinated and that’s why we’re pushing on those studies to occur,” Fauci said.

But he said that younger students will likely need to wait longer to receive the jab.

“When you have younger children, it likely will not be before the first quarter of 2022,” Fauci said.

Pfizer’s vaccine is currently authorized for those ages 16 and up, while Moderna’s is approved for adults 18 and older.

Pfizer has said that it has fully enrolled 12- to 15-year-olds for a study and expects to have the results in the first half of 2021, ABC News reported.

Meanwhile, Moderna announced in December it would run a trial on 3,000 children ages 12 to 17 — and anticipates the results mid-year, the outlet reported.