Vaccine May be Available for Teens as Early as Summer

U.S. teens may be able to get vaccinated as early as summer, health officials say.

Although the coronavirus has generally been less harmful to younger people, at least 3 million U.S. children have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And with 73 million children currently living in the United States, one Johns Hopkins researcher says getting them vaccinated is essential to finally slowing the spread of the virus.

“In order to reach a level of herd immunity in our population where we can get rid of this virus, we’re going to need to vaccinate our kids,” says Kawsar Talaat, a Johns Hopkins infectious disease doctor. “If you fail to vaccinate a population, that means you’re still allowing the virus to go on to have new mutations.”