Vaccinated Children Likely Still Have to Wear Masks in School, Surgeon General Says

Indoor mask mandates astatine schools volition apt to enactment successful spot adjacent aft young children person COVID-19 vaccines successful the coming weeks, said U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.

In an Oct. 21 interview connected CNN’s “New Day,” Murthy was asked however overmuch the vaccination of children ages 5-11 would impact the request of having them deterioration masks successful the classroom. He replied that those who are vaccinated whitethorn inactive request to deterioration a disguise until the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says otherwise.

“The CDC has guidance presently says adjacent if you are vaccinated, you bash request to deterioration a mask,” Murthy said. “That volition apt beryllium the lawsuit for children until the CDC changes it.”

He past advised parents that having their kids vaccinated “reduces the pressure” to quarantine them erstwhile they are exposed to the virus.

“We cognize that if you person idiosyncratic successful the schoolroom who is exposed, but if you’re vaccinated, your chances of really getting sick are much, overmuch less,” Murthy said.

While children represented astir 16 percent of each COVID-19 cases successful the United States, decease and terrible unwellness owed to COVID-19 stay uncommon among American children. As of Oct. 20, the CDC reported 637 Americans aged nether 18 died of COVID-19.

Murthy’s remark comes aft CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told reporters Wednesday that adjacent if children are afloat vaccinated, they should inactive beryllium masked successful schools.

“It volition instrumentality immoderate clip and arsenic I conscionable noted, arsenic we caput into these wintertime months we cognize we cannot beryllium complacent. We besides cognize that from erstwhile information that schools that person had masks successful spot were three-and-a-half times little apt to person schoolhouse outbreaks requiring schoolhouse closure,” Walensky said during a White House briefing.

Meanwhile, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo is questioning whether information really suggests that disguise mandates assistance halt the dispersed of the microorganism successful schools.

“In presumption of the information that supports disguise usage successful kids and mandates for masking kids, it is precise anemic and that’s a fact,” Ladapo, who became the authorities surgeon wide successful September, said astatine an Oct. 20 event with Gov. Ron DeSantis. “There is simply a important spread betwixt the prime of information retired determination supporting masking kids yielding immoderate payment for kids, whatsoever, factual, and what we’re proceeding from immoderate of our nationalist wellness enactment successful different states and nationally.”

“In Florida, we are going to enactment adjacent to the information and we’re going to fto you cognize however we consciousness astir the data,” helium continued. “The information bash not enactment immoderate objective payment for children successful schools with disguise mandates. The highest prime information find nary grounds of benefit.”