Parents and guardians across the nation have been struggling to determine a way to best educate their kids during the pandemic.
While the answer to when children will fully return to school still remains a question, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s head gave her input about vaccinating teachers.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC director, said educators do not need to receive the COVID-19 vaccine before schools can safely reopen, reports Today.
“There is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen and that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated,” Walensky said.
“Vaccinations of teachers is not a prerequisite for safely reopening schools,” she added.
According to the CDC’s vaccination plans, teachers are prioritized as “essential workers.” However, many have yet to receive doses as the nation faces a supply shortage of the COVID-19 vaccine.
A Mississippi study suggested that classrooms don’t pose as big of a risk of spreading the virus as previously thought.
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The study, led by the University of Mississippi Medical Center, in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that children are more likely to be infected by a family member who hasn’t taken proper precautions than at school.
The findings indicate that children are more likely to contract the virus at a holiday party, family gathering, or from parents who don’t wear face masks instead of the classroom.
In fact, children who attended school or daycare and tested positive were more likely to report other kids and staff not taking proper measures such as masking, social distancing, or handwashing.
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