Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Wednesday that the vaccination of teachers’ is not a prerequisite for the safe reopening of schools’, and takes a stand on a dispute between teachers’ unions and school districts that become a roadblock to return students who return to personal pupils.
‘Yes [the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices] placed teachers in the 1B category, the category of essential workers, ‘she said during an information session of the COVID response team in the White House. “But I also want to make it clear that there is increasing data indicating that schools can reopen safely and that the safe opening does not indicate that teachers need to be vaccinated to reopen safely.”
Walensky’s comments come in response to a question regarding the prioritization of vaccines and whether the federal government will work more closely with states to increase the vaccine supply to teachers so schools can reopen in the fall.
She said states would be able to continue to decide how to distribute vaccines, as states’ plans “should be consistent with the way they can titrate their stock” versus the number of people eligible to receive the vaccine. .
While applying the criteria of the Advisory Committee and the state and local guidelines for vaccination in these appropriate communities, I would also like to say that it is safe not to open schools – that vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for the safe reopening of schools. , “she said.
In a article three doctors affiliated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last week, urged schools nationwide to reopen, pointing out that ‘there was little evidence that schools contributed significantly to’ a greater distribution of the community ‘
A study published Tuesday, citing the article, found that the prevalence of COVID-19 was lower in schools than in the community, in rural Wisconsin schools (4876 students and 654 staff members).
Meanwhile, White House President Joe Biden and White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain defended last week teachers’ unionsrefuses to return to personal learning despite scientific evidence suggesting little transfer in classrooms.
Biden expressed support for the Chicago Teachers Union in his fight against reopening schools for personal learning, saying, “I know they want to work.”
“They just want to work in a safe environment, and as safe as we can make it rational, and we can do that,” Biden said.
According to Biden, widespread testing and functioning of ventilation systems is the key to reopening schools.
In an appearance on CNN, Klain pleads for President Biden’s plan to reopen schools in 100 days, and supports teachers ‘objections to immediate personal teaching, saying schools’ did not make the investments to keep students safe. ‘
Teachers in Chicago ignored a number of reopening dates and instead chose to brave the school district and work remotely. The district and the teachers’ union agreed on Monday after a tense negotiation a two-day ‘cooling off period’.
The union advocates that members with medically vulnerable family members should receive accommodation at home for distance work and that teachers should only return to personal education after they have been vaccinated. It also advocates for increased testing of staff and students, as well as a measure of public health that will determine when schools reopen or close.