Children under age 12 will "very likely" be able to get vaccinated for coronavirus at the "earliest the end of the year, and very likely the first quarter of 2022," NIAID Director Anthony Fauci told "Meet the Press" Sunday.

Why it matters: Children generally aren't at risk of serious coronavirus infections, but vaccinating them will be key to protecting the adults around them and, eventually, reaching herd immunity, writes Axios' Caitlin Owens.

• The sooner children have a vaccine, the sooner schools and child care can go back to normal, which will greatly ease the burden on millions of parents.

What he's saying: Fauci noted that some companies have already begun trials assessing whether the vaccines are safe for children.

• "If you project realistically when we'll get enough data to be able to say that elementary school children will be able to be vaccinated, I would think that would be, at the earliest, the end of the year," Fauci said. "And very likely, the first quarter of 2022."
• Fauci added that high school kids should be able to get the vaccine "sometime this fall. I'm not sure it'll exactly be on the first day that school opens, but pretty close to that."