Dr. Fauci has stressed that we need to stay on our current downward trajectory.

Vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson have begun to proliferate throughout the United States, and concentrated efforts to vaccinate the most vulnerable are in full swing. In most states, vaccines are still currently reserved for persons either above the age of 60, or working in a profession that is regularly exposed to potential infection, such as doctors or emergency response personnel. While the rest of us still need to wait our turns, a plan is starting to take form for younger Americans.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci said yesterday that he expects high schoolers throughout the United States will be able to receive COVID-19 vaccines by the early fall season, with elementary school students to follow around Q1 2022.

“The tests are being done to determine both safety and comparable immunogenicity in high school students. We predict that high school students will very likely be able to be vaccinated by the fall term,” Fauci told CBS.

“Maybe not the very first day, but certainly the early part of the fall for that fall educational term,” Fauci continued.

While it is good that a concrete plan is starting to take shape, Fauci has cautioned Americans not to become complacent. The decline in COVID-19 cases has begun to plateau in recent weeks on the heels of state legislators moving to lift face mask and social distancing mandates.

“The message we’re saying is that we do want to come back carefully and slowly about pulling back on mitigation methods,” Fauci said. “But don’t turn that switch on and off because it really would be risky to have yet again another surge, which we do not want to happen because we’re plateauing at a- quite a high level. Sixty to 70,000 new infections per day is quite high.”