As schools reopen and students return for in-person learning, many are wondering how safe it will be to interact in indoor spaces, particularly with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new mandate requiring teachers to get vaccinated in California.
"Vaccination is the single most important that we can take as a society to get ahead of this pandemic, and really we are behind," said Dr. Jeanne Noble, emergency medicine doctor and director of COVID-19 Response for the UCSF Emergency Department, during Wednesday’s "Ask an Expert" with KCBS Radio’s Holly Quan and Dan Mitchinson.
"Having a mandate for teachers to be vaccinated is an excellent policy move," she said. Hopefully, it will become a requirement for all essential workers, she added.
Noble is optimistic about children being able to follow masking guidelines and restrictions. "It doesn’t seem to bother them a whole lot and they keep their masks on," she said. In many cases, they’re even better than adults.
But ultimately vaccination is the most important, especially if children are 12 and older. "First and foremost parents should get their kids vaccinated if they are age-eligible," she said, with a vaccine for children aged 5-11 by hopefully available by September or early October.
Until universal vaccination is achieved in schools, masks stay on.
"Right now we are masking to protect the unvaccinated," she said. "Once kids are vaccinated, there really is not much of an argument to have them continue to mask in school, especially if we couple that with a vaccine mandate for kids."
But no matter what, schools should stay open to stave off mental health issues heightened during remote learning. "For any of those kids who are really struggling with social isolation, getting them back into school is the number one step that they can take towards recovery," said Nobel.
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