Schools across the nation need not have every teacher on staff vaccinated against the coronavirus in order to safely reopen to students, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said this week.
Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky explained on Wednesday that there is “increasing data” to suggest the schools can safely reopen without having all teachers vaccinated.
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The “vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for [the] safe reopening of schools,” Walensky said during a White House COVID-19 briefing.
The Biden administration is facing growing pressure to reopen schools; it’s pledged to do so safely. Yet many teachers’ unions have expressed concern about working conditions should all students return to school buildings as in pre-COVID times.
The unions’ stance, in turn, has angered many parents of schoolchildren who say the cost of keeping kids isolated and at home is far too great.
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A CDC report released last week noted that with safety measures in place such as mask wearing and keeping students to small cohort learning groups, “transmission risk within schools appeared low, suggesting that schools might be able to safely open with appropriate mitigation efforts in place.”
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–By CNJ Staff