Staff and students wearing masks at school.Photo: Getty
The Democratic governors from four states announced plans tolift their school mask mandatesover the next two months as COVID-19 cases continue to decline.
The decision goesagainst the current Centers for Disease Control recommendation, which still says that masking in schools is an essential step in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
On Tuesday, the Biden administration reiterated their stance in favor of masks in schools, with White House press secretary Jen Psaki saying they support the CDC’s position, though that will be “continuously” reassessed based on “science and data.”
“I think now is the time for us to say, statewide mask mandate is no longer at our level, each and every mayor, each and every superintendent can make that call for themselves,” Lamont said Monday,CNN reported. “Every town has a certain different sense of what the vaccination [rate] is, what the risks are there. I think you now know enough after two years to be able to make an informed decision yourself.”
Several Republican-led states have banned mask mandates in their schools and fined counties or school districts that went against their laws, such as Florida, Texas andnow Virginia.
Connecticut and New Jersey have some of the highest vaccination rates in the country — around 77% of Connecticut residents are fully vaccinated as are 73% of people in New Jersey,according to the CDC. Delaware and Oregon, though, are behind, with 67% and 68%, respectively.
Andchild vaccination rates nationwide are lagging. SincePfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine was approved for use in kids 5 to 11, just 31.2% in the age group have received at least one dose, and 22.9% are fully vaccinated. The next age group up, kids 12 to 17, is closer to the national average, with 66.6% having received at least one dose and 56.4% fully vaccinated.
Pediatric COVID-19 case rates are starting to decline nationwide afterrecords were shattered in January during the height of the omicron outbreak. During the week ending on Feb. 3, there were 632,000 pediatric cases reported in the U.S., down from the high of 1,150,000 over the week of Jan. 20,the American Academy of Pediatrics reported.
“However, child cases this week remained extremely high, over double the peak level of the Delta surge in 2021,” they added.
source: people.com
