“It’s not my job to tell parents or kids to get vaccinated,” the Vermont progressive told WCAX3 on Wednesday while touring a school in his home state.
“What we want to do is make sure that it is safe and the evidence seems to suggest that it would be safe.”
Sanders, who met with students at a school in Rutland, wouldn’t say if he supports offering reasons to encourage teens to get vaccinated, the TV station reported.
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The progressive icon’s remarks appear as the Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for 12 to 15 year olds as early as next week.
The authorization would allow millions of young Americans to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, greatly increasing the reach of the US campaign to vaccinate more residents, according to the report by the New York Times, which cited “federal officials familiar with the agency’s plans.”
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“We can assure the public that we are working to review this request as quickly as possible,” FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Caccomo told the outlet.
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Right now, anyone 16 or older is suitable for the vaccine in the US.
“I do think we need to have a national and global conversation about the ethics of our vaccinating kids who are low risk for serious complications from the virus when there aren’t enough vaccines in the world to protect high-risk adults from dying,” Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist with Johns Hopkins University, told the Times.
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Many colleges and universities have declared they’ll ask students to show evidence of being vaccinated to return for the fall semester, yet there’s been some debate of using supplies of the vaccine on younger teenagers who are deemed a low risk to get severely ill from the virus while the coronavirus rages in other parts of the world.
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The Biden administration stated Wednesday it supported waiving intellectual property protections for vaccine production to make them more comfortable to manufacture in nations that are witnessing high levels of infection and death.
Sanders supported that move in a Twitter post on Thursday.
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“The goal of vaccines is to save lives and crush the pandemic, not increase drug company profits,” a tweet from the senator’s account said. “I applaud the President for backing the waiver of intellectual property rights for COVID vaccines. It’s nice to see the USA lead the world on a global justice issue.”