Dr. Anthony Fauci says he would support a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for airline travel

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci says that he would support mandating COVID-19 vaccination as a requirement for airline travelers.

“I would support that if you wanna get on a plane and travel with other people, that you should be vaccinated,” Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical advisor, told theSkimm.

“It’s on the table; we haven’t decided yet,” Fauci said during an interview on Monday with The Washington Post. “But if the president said, ‘You know, let’s go ahead and do it,’ I would be supportive of it.”

Fauci, who has served as the NIAID director for more than three decades, has been a nationally prominent figure throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

So far 63% of the U.S. population ages 12 and older have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 while 73.8% of that population demographic has received at least one dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Currently in the U.S. kids younger than 12 may not receive any of the available vaccines.

The Biden administration, which has been pushing for more Americans to get vaccinated, is mandating COVID-19 vaccination for federal executive branch employees and for employees of contractors who work with the federal government.

The administration will also require employers with 100 or more employees to ensure that workers have either been vaccinated, or if they have not, that they furnish a negative test every week.

“The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is developing a rule that will require all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or require any workers who remain unvaccinated to produce a negative test result on at least a weekly basis before coming to work,” according to the White House website. “OSHA will issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to implement this requirement. This requirement will impact over 80 million workers in private sector businesses with 100+ employees.”