Dr. Anthony Fauci said that COVID-19 vaccines may become mandatory to travel to other countries or to go to school.
“Everything will be on the table for discussion,” Fawei, who will be President-elect Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, 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 added that “all this will be discussed [under the Biden administration]. “
“I’m not sure [the COVID-19 vaccine] it will be mandatory from the point of view of the central government, as well as the mandates of the federal government “, said Fauci, although he added that it is” certain “that some individual institutions will require the shooting.
Fauci said vaccination requirements in schools are “possible,” but would come from state or city mandates.
“A city-level school system may require this in some cities, but not in other cities. And that is what I mean by things that are not done at the central level, but at the local level “, said Fauci.
Regarding travel, Fauci said the United States could 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 could also be requested by other countries to go there, Fauci said.
“So we, in this country, do not need it [people] to get a yellow fever vaccine when you go somewhere. The place I go to is the one who asks for it “, he said.
About 3.2 million initial doses of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines have been given to Americans since the vaccines were first approved last month, according to a Bloomberg report.