Fauci says he backs California Gov. Gavin Newsom's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for schoolchildren

• Dr. Anthony Fauci said he agrees with California Gov. Newsom's vaccine requirement for students.
• "We've been doing this for decades," he said on "Face The Nation" on Sunday.
• Other officials, like West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, said he wouldn't implement a similar mandate.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said he backs California Gov. Gavin Newsom's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for schoolchildren.

"I agree with what Gov. Newsom did in California," Fauci said during an interview on CBS's "Face The Nation" Sunday. "People need to realize that having a vaccine requirement for schools is not a new, novel thing that is very peculiar or specific to COVID-19. We've been doing this for decades."

Gov. Newsom announced the mandate for kids in grades 7 through 12 on Friday, making California the first state to implement such a requirement. It will take effect - as early as January 1 or July 1, 2022 - following full authorization of COVID-19 vaccine for children by the US Food and Drug Administration, as Insider's Charles Davis reported.

He added that his kids couldn't attend school if they weren't vaccinated for other diseases, including "measles, mumps, and rubella."

-Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 3, 2021

"When we see pushback on that, it's as if this never happened before," Fauci continued. "It's actually ongoing with other vaccines, so let's do it with a virus that's very, very serious."

Other officials opposed the idea of a vaccine mandate for students. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said there's "no chance" he would make it a requirement.

"I truly believe that the mandates only divide us and only divide us more," Justice said on "Face The Nation" Sunday. "From the standpoint of mandates, I don't believe in imposing upon our freedoms, over and over and over. And I've said that over - I don't know how many times I've got to say it."

He continued: "From the standpoint of our children, I'm going to still encourage in every way because I truly believe that the more people that we get vaccinated, the less people will die. But at the same time, we still got to stand up for who we are."