CDC Says Vaccinated Teachers, Students Don’t Need To Wear Masks

As the school year is approaching, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced relaxing COVID-19 guidelines.

The agency announced on Friday that vaccinated teachers and students do not need to wear masks inside school buildings.

The new information comes amid the national vaccination campaign, making children as young as 12 eligible for the vaccine. There has been a decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths.

“We’re at a new point in the pandemic that we’re all really excited about, and so it’s time to update the guidance,” Erin Sauber-Schatz, who leads the CDC task force that prepares recommendations designed to keep Americans safe from COVID-19, stated.

The CDC is not advising schools to require teachers and vaccine-eligible students to get the shot. It is not giving guidance on how teachers can determine which students are vaccinated or how parents will know which teachers have received the vaccine.

Elizabeth Stuart, a John Hopkins University public health professor with children in elementary and middle school, believes the decisions will make for challenging school environments.

“It would be a very weird dynamic, socially, to have some kids wearing masks and some not. And tracking that? Teachers shouldn’t need to be keeping track of which kids should have masks on,” she said.

The agency did not change its social distancing guidelines for schools. They still advise that schools continue to space students and their desks at least three feet apart in classrooms.

One of the biggest concerns falls at the middle school level, where some kids are eligible to receive the vaccine, and some aren’t. Therefore, the heavy burden may cause administrators to keep a masking policy in place for all.

“The guidance is really written to allow flexibility at the local level,” Sauber-Schatz said.

There is also a state-level issue that further complicates the issue.

California and Virginia are among several that have policies that require students to wear masks regardless of their vaccination status. Then, Arizona, Iowa, and Texas state governors and lawmakers have barred local schools from implementing a mask policy.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona vowed to work with schools to help them get kids back into classrooms.

“We know that in-person learning offers vital opportunities for all students to develop healthy, nurturing relationships with educators and peers and that students receive essential supports in school for their social and emotional wellbeing, mental health, and academic success,” he said in a statement.