Dr. Anthony Fauci told 1010 WINS on Friday that young people should not be discouraged from getting a COVID-19 vaccine after recent data showed chest pain and heart inflammation as a side effect in rare cases.
Fauci echoed statements this week from federal health officials, who said the benefits for teens and young adults far outweigh the “extremely rare side effect,” which appears to be most common in young men after they receive their second of two doses.
Fauci said an advisory committee on immunization practices that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been looking at the risk of young people getting the shot versus the risk of them remaining unvaccinated.
“If you don’t get vaccinated and you get infected, the chances of getting seriously ill, of getting hospitalized, and of even getting a few deaths, far outweighs the risk of the rare side effect,” Fauci said. “That doesn’t mean it doesn’t occur—because you want to be honest with people. It occurs, but it occurs very rarely, much, much more rarely than would be a complication of the infection if you did get infected.”
The advisory committee said this week that there does seem to be a link between the Pfizer and Moderna shots and some cases of heart inflammation. Nevertheless, the side effect is very rare and shouldn't deter young people, as getting COVID-19 is a greater risk, Fauci said.
“That’s the reason why the recommendation from the advisory committee is that people 12 and older should still get the vaccination,” he said.
CDC officials said that they plan to update their guidance to say that anyone who suffers the heart inflammation after one dose of the vaccine can defer a second shot. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration plans to put together a product warning that notes the risk.
When it comes to kids under 12 years old, Fauci said a vaccine may not be approved for them until after the school year begins.
“For younger children in elementary school and in middle school, it’s going to be a close call, it will likely be sometime into the fall,” Fauci said of a vaccine approval.
While the Pfizer vaccine is already available for people as young as 12, Fauci said investigators and pharmaceutical companies are looking at the safety and efficacy of vaccines in younger children using what’s called an age de-escalation study.
“Namely, study kids from 12 to 9 years old. If it looks good there, 9 to 6 years old. If it looks good there, 6 to 2 years old,” Fauci said. “Whether or not we’re going to get enough data to be able to make a recommendation before the fall term for that group, I really don’t think so. I think it’s going to be deeper into the fall and early winter, likely before the end of this calendar year.”
Fauci said it’s all the more important that people 12 and over get vaccinated now that the more transmissible delta variant of the virus is circulating in the U.S.
“That variant has already taken over in the U.K., in England,” Fauci said. “In the United States, we’re now over 20% and it’s growing in the sense that it becomes more dominant, because it transmits more readily.”
“So there’s so many reasons why people who are unvaccinated should seriously consider getting vaccinated, not only for their own health, but to be able to put a stop to the spread of this virus,” he said.
Fauci urged New Yorkers who've only gotten one vaccine dose in a two-dose regimen to get their second dose, even if they've waited longer than the 28 days recommended for the Moderna vaccine and 21 days recommended for the Pfizer vaccine.
"You want to keep as close to the recommendations as possible," he said. "But for goodness sake, if you've missed it by a few weeks or so, don't worry about it. Just go get that second dose. Just go get it. You're going to get good protection from the second dose."
Asked if the new delta variant could take over in New York state, where over 70% of adults have received at least one vaccine dose, Fauci said the state “is fortunate and has done very well in the context of vaccinations” but that everyone who is partially vaccinated needs to get their second dose.
“Please don’t forget to get the second dose, because the protection against this variant, this delta variant, is really quite good when you have two doses of the full regimen,” he said. “It is not as good at all when you’ve only had one dose.”
“So we’ve got to do two things in New York,” Fauci added. “We’ve got to get the people who’ve had a single dose and are waiting for the second dose to please go get that second dose. And for those who have not even had the first dose—namely the other 30% or so—please go out and seriously consider getting vaccinated for your own protection and for those around you.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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