Fauci also said he hoped the Food and Drug Administration would grant full approval of the coronavirus vaccines — now under emergency use authorizations — within the next month, though he emphasized that FDA officials were operating independently. Once that happens, Fauci said he thinks businesses, colleges and universities, and other local entities would feel “empowerment” to enact more of their own mandates.
“I strongly support that,” Fauci said, adding as he has in the past that he did not think the federal government would enact a nationwide vaccine mandate.
The push comes as coronavirus cases in the United States rose 40 percent in the past week, while covid-related hospitalizations rose 36 percent in the same period. In addition, coronavirus cases among children are on the rise — with the school year set to begin in many districts across the country. Meanwhile, children younger than 12 remain ineligible for vaccination.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said on “Meet the Press” that she supported a vaccine mandate for teachers, in part to help protect children who could not yet be inoculated. She also noted that immunizations — and immunization requirements — have been in schools since the 19th century.
“Vaccines are the single-most important way of dealing with covid,” Weingarten said. “As a matter of personal conscience, I think that we need to be working with our employers, not opposing them, on vaccine mandates.”
Weingarten estimated that about 90 percent of the teachers who are members of the union have gotten the vaccine. The union passed a policy in October saying vaccines should be voluntary for teachers, but she said circumstances now merited a mandate.
“I do think that the circumstances have changed and that vaccination is a community responsibility, and it weighs really heavily on me that kids under 12 can’t get vaccinated,” she said, explaining her reversal.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month changed its guidance to recommend all children older than 2 wear a mask when they return to school, regardless of vaccination status. However, some Republican-led states have prohibited cities and local entities, including schools, from mandating masks.
On Sunday, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that he regretted signing into law a ban on mask mandates in the state in April. At the time, case numbers were low, but the delta variant has caused the virus to roar back and affect “every population,” he said.
“Facts change, and leaders have to adjust to the new facts that you have and the reality of what you have to deal with,” Hutchinson said. “Those under 12 cannot get vaccinated in the schools. And so I realized that we needed to have more options for our local school districts to protect those children. … And so it was an error to sign that law. I admit that.”
“Thank goodness … the court stepped in and held that is unconstitutional. And now we have that local flexibility for schools to make their decision to protect the children based upon the unique circumstances of their district,” Hutchinson said.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said on “Face the Nation” that he has spoken with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and to the Florida education commissioner to try to persuade them to take more measures to protect students while keeping schools open.
“We’re clearly at a fork in the road in this country,” Cardona said. “You’re either going to help students be in school in-person and be safe, or the decisions you make will hurt students. While I understand the argument around not wanting to wear masks because we’re fatigued, without question student safety and staff safety come first.”
Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb encouraged schools to provide students with higher-quality masks, like the K-N95, and to test regularly, especially for those students who cannot yet receive the vaccine.
“I can’t think of a business right now that would put 30 unvaccinated people in a confined space without masks and keep them there for the whole day,” Gottlieb said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “No business would do that responsibly, and yet that’s what we’re going to be doing in some schools.”
Meanwhile, Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, sounded exasperated when asked whether he thought it was time for more vaccine mandates, acknowledging that they had become polarizing.
“How did we get here? Why is it that a mandate about vaccines or wearing a mask suddenly becomes a statement about your political party?” Collins said. “We never should have let that happen. Come on, America. We can separate these. We’re incredibly polarized about politics. We don’t really need to be polarized about a virus that’s killing people.”
Collins also said he hoped the FDA might grant full approval of the coronavirus vaccines “within the next month,” but urged those still unvaccinated to get the shots as soon as possible, as they have been safe and effective for millions.
“Please, if you’re on the fence, get off the fence,” Collins said. “Find a place that’s easy. Go to Vaccines.gov. Roll up your sleeve. Become part of the winning team.”
Jeff Stein contributed to this report.
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