As school has gotten underway across the state of Minnesota, officials within the state health department continue to urge families with kids 12 and older to get their children vaccinated against COVID-19.
This comes as COVID-19 case rates in children reach a point they never have before nationwide. This, in part, is due to the more transmissible Delta Variant affecting kids more than the novel coronavirus initially did.
Child-age hospitalizations are again on the rise. Some, like school nurse Annie Lumbar Bendson, say that the efforts need to continue to keep the state from having another massive surge in new cases.
"People are tired and weary from dealing with COVID. I get it. We all wish it was behind us, but unfortunately, we're not there yet," Bendson said.
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She shared that continuing to fight COVID can be even more troublesome with no clear end to the pandemic. Dr. Anthony Fauci recently touched on this, saying that for the pandemic to end, current infection rates need to be at least 10 times lower than they currently are.
"The endgame is to suppress the virus," Fauci said to Axios. "In a country of our size, you can't be hanging around and having 100,000 infections a day. You've got to get well below 10,000 before you start feeling comfortable."
As for what schools are doing, the Minnesota Department of Health and Education continues to work with districts, recommending safety procedures that are just that, recommendations.
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As the school year goes, individual school districts are being left to decide on masking policies, testing programs, and vaccination requirements.
"As we think about more kids back in school, our elementary school students, who are unable to be vaccinated, you know those are things that are giving us pause," State Infectious Disease Director Kris Ehresmann said.
Overall the health department is reporting slower growth in new cases of COVID and a stabilization in hospital rates throughout the state, something not seen nationwide.
