|
 The agency said school administrators can require indoor mask use
even for students and educators who are vaccinated, depending on the
needs of the community. Reasons would include schools with children
under age 12, who are not currently authorized to receive COVID-19
vaccines, or high rates of COVID-19 transmission in the region.
"The guidance does reflect the fact that vaccination makes it easier
to conduct school in person, which should be the default," said Dr.
Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins
University. But it involves "a lot of hedging and risk calculation,"
he added.
California said it would continue to require all students and
educators to wear masks during school, citing the fact that many of
its school facilities can’t accommodate physical distancing.
“Masking is a simple and effective intervention," California Health
& Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said in a
statement. He also said the requirement would ensure that all kids
are treated the same.
The National Education Association, the largest U.S. teachers union,
said the updated CDC guidance offers a roadmap for students to
return to school.
"Everyone who is eligible to be vaccinated should get their COVID-19
vaccination... Schools should be consistently and rigorously
employing all the recommended mitigation strategies," NEA President
Becky Pringle said in a statement.
Schools throughout the United States began to close in March of 2020
as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold and many students were shifted to
online learning at home. Critics had accused teacher unions of
slowing reopenings by demanding virus mitigation practices, such as
universal masking, fewer kids in classrooms and social distancing.
[L1N2K12OT]
MORE DEBATE
The updated guidance is likely to set off more debate about what is
appropriate. Some regions have stricter guidelines than the others.
"Most of the school debate has not been adherent to science - it has
really been linked to politics and teacher unions," Adalja said.
[to top of second column] |
 The American Federation of
Teachers, the second-largest U.S. teachers'
union, said the new CDC guidance makes sense and
will help students return to the classroom.
“The guidance confirms two truths: that students
learn better in the classroom, and that vaccines
remain our best bet to stop the spread of this
virus," AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a
statement.
The CDC said schools should rely on local health
data when deciding to relax or tighten
prevention strategies, including mask wearing
and physical distancing.
"Because of the importance of in-person
learning, schools where not everyone is fully
vaccinated should implement physical distancing
to the extent possible within their structures,
but should not exclude students from in-person
learning to keep a minimum distance
requirement," the new guidance said.
The agency said its recommendations are
appropriate even with the spread of the highly
contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus.
"What we have seen is that students are capable
of wearing masks ... Should there be evidence of
variants spreading, masks reduce the risk," said
Dr. Nathaniel Beers, co-author of the American
Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) school opening
guidelines.
He said updated AAP guidance will be announced
within the next couple of weeks.
A study by the CDC released on Friday showed
that half of unvaccinated adolescents and
parents of unvaccinated adolescents reported
being uncertain about getting a COVID-19
vaccine, or did not intend to get one at all.
Nationwide, according to the CDC statistics on
Friday, around 55% of the overall population and
67% of adults have received at least one
COVID-19 vaccination dose.
(Reporting by Deena Beasley in Los Angeles and
Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Dan
Grebler and Aurora Ellis)
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