Covid-19 vaccine mandates work, says Fauci

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(CNN) - America's

leading infectious disease expert says vaccine mandates are working and will help more people get vaccinated against COVID-19.

About a quarter of the eligible American population remains unvaccinated against coronavirus, and the rate of people receiving booster shots is now outpacing the rate of people receiving their first doses.

Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Monday that the federal government is trying to persuade people to get vaccinated on their own, but it may be necessary to demand from others.

"Obviously we have tried very hard," Fauci said.

"We try to get trusted messengers and we try to avoid this being an ideological or political statement, go back to the realm of pure public health and try to convince people."

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Fauci said he and his fellow health officials don't like telling people what to do about vaccines.

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"But we know that the mandates work," he said.

Fauci, longtime director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said there is evidence that vaccine mandates work in academic settings and in corporations like airlines.

"So while I would like people to do it on their own, sometimes mandates can help in that regard. As delicate as it is, it is really getting people vaccinated more," he said.

The best way for the United States to ensure that the decline in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths will continue is to vaccinate "much more" people, he added.

Fauci said that if the majority of people who have not received vaccines get vaccinated, he is confident that there will not be another increase in cases.

Vaccines increased, new cases decreased

The number of Americans receiving a dose of the covid-19 vaccine has risen to about one million a day, according to data last week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

New cases are declining, with approximately 93,814 infections reported each day last week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Daily deaths from covid-19 are slowly declining, averaging 1,692 deaths per day.

And the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will consider authorizing an antiviral pill to treat COVID-19.

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But there is bad news: the highly contagious delta variant is not fully controlled.

And colder weather can lead to more transmission as people spend more time indoors, health experts say.

"There is beginning to be an increase in cases in colder parts of the country and as people go indoors without wearing masks," former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said Monday.

In five states, new COVID-19 cases increased more than 10% last week compared to the previous week.

Most of them are in colder states: Montana, Colorado, Minnesota, Michigan, and Vermont.

"The delta wave has not crossed the United States," Gottlieb said.

"I think we have a couple of months left."

And that means it is too early to know what the holidays will be like.

"I think some families will have to be more careful than others," Gottlieb said, especially those with children who may be too young to get vaccinated.

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What about Halloween?

Going outside to celebrate Halloween may be one of the safest activities this season, but it's important not to be careless, doctors say.

"If you live in an area with detached or semi-detached houses, I think it's probably ... it's low risk to knock on people's doors and ask for candy. Just make sure you don't go into someone's house," said the medical analyst from CNN, Dr. Leana Wen.

"If you live around many apartment blocks and have to enter elevators and hallways to trick or treating, the risk of covid-19 is significantly higher," he said.

"I would encourage parents not to enter other people's apartment buildings and instead seek activities in a neighboring park or other primarily outdoor settings."

And this is not a good year for indoor Halloween parties if children are unmasked and unvaccinated, said Dr. Megan Ranney, associate dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

When can younger children get vaccinated?

While children may be less likely to suffer a serious illness or death from COVID-19 compared to adults, they are not immune to the serious effects.

The FDA is considering an application from Pfizer to authorize its COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.

The dose would be a third of the amount used by adolescents and adults.

On October 26, the FDA's independent vaccine advisor, the Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Related Biologics, will meet to discuss pediatric vaccines.

If the FDA and CDC approve, children in that age group may receive their first doses later this month or early November.

But as with adults receiving the Pfizer vaccine, they would not be fully vaccinated until two weeks after their second dose.

Gottlieb, who is now a member of the Pfizer board, said he believes children ages 2 to 4 might not be eligible to get vaccinated until early 2022.

"We had previously talked about trying to have that (test) data available before the end of this year, which could have prompted an authorization perhaps by the end of the year, at least in 2- to 4-year-olds," Gottlieb told CBS. Sunday.

"I think it is more likely to stretch into the first quarter of next year at the very least, but not too long in the next year."

Gottlieb told CBS that he plans to vaccinate his own young daughters.

"There are many parents like me who, as soon as the vaccines are available for their children, they go out to vaccinate their children," he said.

They "see the benefits of vaccination."

CNN's Jamie Gumbrecht, Ben Tinker, Lauren Mascarenhas, Jacqueline Howard, and Keith Allen contributed to this report.

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