Press secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday that the White House believes that vaccines for teachers are not a prerequisite for the reopening of schools – but a recommended ‘mitigation step’.
Psaki’s comments come after Vice President Kamala Harris was asked during an interview on NBC’s “Today” whether the White House believes it is safe for teachers to return to the classroom without a vaccine for the new coronavirus.
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Harris said she and President Biden believe teachers should be a priority in terms of receiving the vaccine, but that it is a decision left to the states.
During the White House press release on Wednesday, Psaki, referring to the vaccination of teachers, said “neither the president nor the vice president believe this is a requirement.”
“The CDC guidelines contain a series of mitigation steps, including vaccinations, as recommendations,” Psaki explained, adding that other steps include ‘social distance and the need for smaller class sizes’.
“At the same time, the president and vice president believe both teachers should be prioritized,” she continued. “It’s the state’s decision to decide.”
Psaki is again worried about whether the White House would instruct the states to prioritize teachers for vaccinations.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks at a White House press conference on Tuesday, February 16, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo / Patrick Semansky)
“We can provide federal guidelines,” she said, adding that the White House “works in close partnership with states to make and implement recommendations on prioritization.”
Psaki added that both Biden and Harris had used ‘the power of the presidency and the power of the vice presidency’ to convey their position in the last 24 hours, that is, vaccinations for teachers’ are not a requirement to schools to reopen, but we believe that teachers should be prioritized. ‘
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Psaki’s comments come after Harris appeared on the NBC program “Today” on Wednesday morning, saying the administration believes teachers should be a priority in receiving the coronavirus vaccine while parents and educators clash over whether it is safe for teachers to return to classrooms without vaccination. against COVID-19.
“Teachers need to be a priority. Teachers need to be a priority,” Harris said. “Teachers are critical to the development of our children; they need to be able to teach in a safe place and expand the minds and opportunities of our children, so teachers need to be a priority along with other front line workers. “
She added: “We’re going to make it a priority.”
Asked if it is safe for teachers to return to the classroom without vaccination, Harris said the government thinks they should be a priority.
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“And the states make decisions individually about where they will be on the list of who gets vaccinated. I believe that should be a priority,” she said. “The president believes they should be a priority.”
The back-and-forth about vaccination educators comes when the White House announced Wednesday that the U.S. now administers an average of 1.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine daily – up from an average of 900,000 shots a day a month ago. The latest data reflects an increase of 200,000 doses compared to the previous week.
The Biden government has set a goal of reaching 100 million vaccinations within the first hundred days of the president, with current data reflecting a rate that would exceed the target.
The White House also announced this week that the Biden government is increasing its vaccine supply to states to 13.5 million doses per week – an increase from the ten million doses per week previously announced by the White House.