Fauci expects ‘flood’ of vaccine mandates once FDA gives jabs full approval

The country’s top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci predicts businesses and schools will rush to impose vaccine mandates as soon as the Food and Drug Administration gives its full approval of the Covid-19 shots.

In an interview with USA Today’s editorial board, Dr Fauci said FDA approval would embolden private organisations and educational institutions to require staff, customers and students to get the jabs.

“They can say, ‘If you want to come to this college or this university, you’ve got to get vaccinated. If you want to work in this plant, you have to get vaccinated. If you want to work in this enterprise, you’ve got to get vaccinated. If you want to work in this hospital, you’ve got to get vaccinated.’”

Dr Fauci predicted vaccine mandates would not be issued at a federal level.

The FDA issued emergency use authorisation for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in December, allowing state and federal authorities to begin mass vaccination programmes for anyone age 18 or older.

But it has since faced criticism for being slow to grant full approval for the vaccines, despite clinical trials overwhelmingly proving the vaccines are safe and effective.

The delay has been blamed by some lawmakers for causing vaccine hesitancy.

The FDA has said it is working as fast as possible to approve the vaccines, but has been vague about when full approval might be granted, or clarified how far along its approval process is. Some reports have indicated the health agency is aiming for full approval within the next month.

Dr Fauci expected there would be a “flood” of vaccine mandates imposed once approval is granted.

“Organisations, enterprises, universities, colleges that have been reluctant to mandate at the local level will feel much more confident,” he said.

More than 70 per cent of US adults have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

But the rampant Delta variant has spread rapidly among the unvaccinated, and led to more than 100,000 breakthrough cases among the vaccinated, the overwhelming majority of whom only suffer mild symptoms.

Dr Fauci said the epidemic was now one of the unvaccinated.

“When you walk into a hospital, what you’re going to see is a lot of young people, some of whom are seriously ill, but you’re not seeing an overwhelming outstripping of the capability of the hospitals throughout the country,” he said.

Addressing the barrage of personal attacks he receives from Republicans in Congress and on Fox News, Dr Fauci said he was more concerned about the country and himself.

“This is a dystopian world we’re living in,” he told USA Today.

Many Americans were being misled about Covid-19 and vaccinations, he said.

He hopes people will listen to their “better angels” and make up their own minds based on science and reality.