May 15, 2021 - Health

Fauci: Unvaccinated kids must wear masks in school this fall

Oriana González

Picture of a classroom with four children sitting socially distanced while wearing masks — Photo: Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

NIAID director Anthony Fauci said Friday that children who have not been vaccinated for the coronavirus will need to wear masks in schools this fall, CNN reports.

What they're saying: Fauci said that children in schools need to wear masks "when they're out there playing with their friends and, you know, particularly in an indoor situation."

Fauci added that children younger than 12 will likely not be vaccinated until the end of the calendar year.
He also said he can "almost guarantee" that most schools will require students who have not been inoculated to wear masks.

The big picture: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released guidelines earlier this week saying that fully vaccinated people are not required to wear masks or socially distance in or outdoors regardless of crowd size in most cases.

The Food and Drug Administration this month authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use for 12- to 15-year-old adolescents.
The CDC website still says that "people age 2 and older should wear masks in public settings and when around people who don’t live in their household."

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Fauci: Unvaccinated kids must wear masks in school this fall

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