More US states, employers, schools likely to mandate COVID-19 vaccines, says expert

FILE PHOTO: Mobile vaccination clinic hosted by Detroit Health Department in partnership with Detroit Public Schools Community DistrictREUTERS: More US states, schools and employers are likely to mandate vaccinations as COVID-19 cases climb but a federal mandate is politically unfeasible, an expert at the Infectious Disease Society of America said on Tuesday.

"I would support employers and schools taking a close look at what they can do to push the envelope on this," said Preeti Malani, a fellow at ISDA, the top US medical association for infectious diseases.The highly contagious Delta variant has become the dominant coronavirus strain in the United States, representing about 83 per cent of new infections. So far, unvaccinated people represent nearly 97per cent of severe cases.

She said some people were waiting for vaccines to secure formal approval by US regulators. The shots authorized so far in the United States have been authorized on an emergency basis.Case counts have climbed as US schools prepare for the new academic year, raising questions about how best to prevent outbreaks. Experts say facemasks, social distancing and other measures will be important to prevent the spread in schools.

Tina Tan, a member of IDSA's board of directors, said surveillance testing for COVID-19 would be difficult to implement in K-12 schools, which run from kindergarten age to 18. "In the K-12 space, I do think that mask mandates ... in the school setting should be enforced, because right now we know that kids under 12 can't be vaccinated and only 30 per cent of children between 12 and 17 have been fully vaccinated," she said.

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