德尔威尔明顿。——美国政府的顶级传染病专家安东尼·福奇博士周日表示，他希望食品药品监督管理局能在本月底之前全面批准冠状病毒疫苗，并预测这一潜在举措将刺激私营部门以及学校和大学的疫苗授权浪潮。
美国食品和药物管理局只批准了辉瑞、Moderna和强生公司的紧急使用许可疫苗，但该机构预计将很快给予辉瑞全面批准。
拜登政府表示，联邦政府不会强制要求联邦劳动力以外的人接种疫苗，但越来越多地敦促州和地方政府以及企业考虑这种强制措施。乔·拜登总统的首席医疗顾问福奇说，“需要在地方一级执行任务”，以帮助遏制病毒的传播。
“我希望——我不预测——我希望在未来几周内。我希望是在8月份内，”福奇谈到美国食品和药物管理局对疫苗的批准时说。“如果是这样的话，你会看到当地企业的赋权，授权给学院、大学、商业场所等各种各样的机构，我强烈支持这一点。时机已到。...我们必须采取额外措施让人们接种疫苗。”
福奇发表上述评论之际，拜登政府正在权衡可以采取哪些措施来鼓励更多未接种疫苗的美国人接种疫苗，因为德尔塔变异疫苗继续在美国大部分地区激增。
拜登最近批准了一些规定，要求联邦工作人员提供疫苗接种证明，否则将面临定期检测、口罩授权和旅行限制。拜登还在等待国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀关于可能要求美军接种疫苗的正式建议。
在备受瞩目的公司通知员工冠状病毒疫苗接种要求正在制定中，一些地方已经或正在考虑疫苗要求在室内用餐的时候，政府在支持疫苗授权方面变得更加直言不讳。
联合航空公司通知其员工，他们需要在10月25日或美国食品和药物管理局全面批准其中一种疫苗后五周内全面接种疫苗——以先到日期为准。
迪士尼和沃尔玛已经宣布了针对白领的疫苗授权，微软、谷歌和脸书表示，他们将要求员工和美国办公室访客提供疫苗接种证明。泰森食品还宣布，将要求所有美国员工在11月前接种疫苗。
也有反对的声音。
美国最高法院上周被要求阻止印第安纳大学要求学生和员工接种新冠肺炎疫苗的计划。这是高等法院第一次被要求对疫苗授权进行权衡，与此同时，一些公司、州和城市也在考虑或已经通过了对工人甚至室内用餐的疫苗要求。
美国教师工会联合会主席兰迪·温加滕周日表示，她个人支持教育工作者的疫苗授权。
“出于个人良知，我认为我们需要与雇主合作——而不是在疫苗授权上反对他们，”Weingarten说，他估计大约90%的AFT成员已经接种了疫苗。
美国国立卫生研究院院长弗朗西斯·柯林斯(Francis Collins)博士周日几乎赞同疫苗授权，他说，“当我看到企业决定为员工授权时，我会庆祝。”
柯林斯说:“是的，我认为我们应该在人们濒临死亡的时候，尽可能利用每一种公共卫生工具。
福奇和温嘉顿在美国全国广播公司的“会见媒体”节目中发表了讲话，科林斯在美国广播公司的“本周”节目中露面
Fauci hopeful COVID vaccines get full OK by FDA within weeks
WILMINGTON, Del. -- The U.S. government's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Sunday that he was hopeful the Food and Drug Administration will give full approval to the coronavirus vaccine by month's end and predicted the potential move will spur a wave of vaccine mandates in the private sector as well as schools and universities.
The FDA has only granted emergency-use approval of the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnsonvaccines, but the agency is expected to soon give full approval to Pfizer.
The Biden administration has stated that the federal government will not mandate vaccinations beyond the federal workforce, but is increasingly urging state and local governments as well as businesses to consider such mandates. Fauci, who is President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said “mandates at the local level need to be done” to help curb the spread of the virus.
“I hope — I don’t predict — I hope that it will be within the next few weeks. I hope it’s within the month of August,” Fauci said of FDA approval of the vaccine. “If that’s the case, you’re going to see the empowerment of local enterprises, giving mandates that could be colleges, universities, places of business, a whole variety and I strongly support that. The time has come. ... We’ve got to go the extra step to get people vaccinated.”
Fauci's comments come as the Biden administration is weighing what levers it can push to encourage more unvaccinated Americans to get their shots as the delta variant continues to surge through much of the United States.
Biden recently approved rules requiring federal workers to provide proof of vaccination or face regular testing, mask mandates and travel restrictions. Biden is also awaiting a formal recommendation from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on potentially requiring U.S. troops to get vaccinated.
The administration has become more vocal in its support of vaccine mandates at a moment when high-profile companies have informed employees that coronavirus vaccination requirements are in the works, and some localities have adopted or are contemplating vaccine requirements to dine indoors.
United Airlines informed its employees that they will need to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 25 or five weeks after the FDA grants full approval to one of the vaccines — whichever date comes first.
Disney and Walmart have announced vaccine mandates for white-collar workers, and Microsoft, Google and Facebook said they will require proof of vaccination for employees and visitors to their U.S. offices. Tyson Foods has also announced it will require all U.S. employees to get vaccinated by November.
There's also been pushback.
The U.S. Supreme Court last week was asked to block a plan by Indiana University to require students and employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19. It’s the first time the high court has been asked to weigh in on a vaccine mandate and comes as some corporations, states and cities are also contemplating or have adopted vaccine requirements for workers or even to dine indoors.
Randi Weingarten, president of American Federation of Teachers union, said on Sunday that she personally supports a vaccine mandate for educators.
“As a matter of personal conscience, I think that we need to be working with our employers — not opposing them on vaccine mandates,” said Weingarten, who estimated about 90% of AFT members are already vaccinated.
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, on Sunday all but endorsed vaccine mandates, saying, “I celebrate when I see businesses deciding that they’re going to mandate that for their employees.”
“Yes, I think we ought to use every public health tool we can when people are dying,” Collins said.
Fauci and Weingarten spoke on NBC's “Meet the Press," and Collins appeared on ABC’s “This Week."
