Despite CDC Guidance, School Policies Vary on Masks, Vaccinations

Despite CDC Guidance, School Policies Vary on Masks, Vaccinations²

Officials, educators and parents agree that millions of students in the United States should return to in-person classes next month. However, they disagree on how children can safely go to schools as the Delta³ variant⁴ of the coronavirus spreads across the country.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky is director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. At a briefing on COVID-19 on July 27, she told reporters, "Children should return to full-time⁵ in-person learning in the fall with proper prevention strategy in place."

Walensky recommended that all K-12 students, teachers, workers and visitors wear a face-covering, or mask, in schools. The recommendation is in effect for both unvaccinated and vaccinated⁶ people.

She said that fully⁷ vaccinated Americans should also wear face-coverings in public and indoors in communities "with substantial and high transmission" of COVID-19.

The health agency director added, "We continue to strongly encourage everyone to get vaccinated." She noted⁸ that vaccination¹ prevents severe illness and death and also helps reduce the spread of the virus.

American Federation⁹ of Teachers President Randi Weingarten praised the agency's new guideline to wear masks in schools. She said in a statement, "It is a necessary precaution until children under 12 can receive a COVID-19 vaccination and more Americans 12 and older get vaccinated."

Some will not follow mask recommendation

The new CDC guidelines, however, are only recommendations. It is up to states and local officials to follow them.

The South Carolina Department of Education immediately wrote on Twitter that its "public schools will not be adopting the CDC's recommendations for required mask use." The department said state law, passed on July 1, banned mask requirements in public schools.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order on Friday blocking mask requirements in the state's public schools. He said parents had the right to decide if their children would wear face coverings.

"There will be no lockdowns, there will be no school closures, there will be no restrictions¹⁰ and no mandates¹² in the state of Florida," DeSantis said.

The CDC reported that more than 78 percent of U.S. counties are now considered to be areas "with substantial and high transmission" of COVID-19. That includes every single county in both Florida and South Carolina.

Over the weekend, the state of Florida also saw record highs for both new cases of COVID-19 infection and hospitalization. The numbers are higher than those set a year ago before vaccines¹⁴ were available.

Others push for vaccination requirements

In other states, officials are pushing to get their students and workers vaccinated. Many have set up vaccination centers to give shots to members of the school community. And some are giving students rewards in exchange for shots.

Chicago has the third-biggest school system in the country, with 341,000 students. Officials said that by early July, 78 percent of school workers had received at least one dose of vaccine¹³.

In May and June, Chicago held vaccination events at 15 schools and gave out more than 1,500 shots to people in the community. The city also opened three vaccination centers in July to reach students and their families.

The states of New York and California have the country's two largest school systems in New York City and Los Angeles. Recently, state and city officials required all public workers, including teachers and school workers, to be vaccinated or tested for COVID-19 weekly.

"What we're seeing is a pandemic among those unvaccinated people, but it affects everyone," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

Mallory McGowin is the communications director for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. She said vaccines are the "best preventative measure that we have in place and we need families and educators to really consider getting that vaccine."

Some states let young people decide for themselves whether to get vaccinated for COVID-19 and other diseases. In November, Washington, D.C., passed a law letting children 11 and older receive any vaccine approved by the CDC without their parents' permission.

This summer, Washington, D.C., is operating COVID vaccination centers at middle and high schools. Some give out $51 gift cards to children over 12 for getting vaccinated.

Misinformation about vaccine safety and effectiveness is a large reason why some Americans are not getting shots.

The state of Tennessee has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. Lawmakers first stopped all vaccine outreach to children and young people. It began again in July, but state officials say it will be directed toward parents, not children.

Teenagers and young children are at lower risk of getting severe COVID-19 infection and being hospitalized. However, the risk remains¹⁵. They can also still spread the disease to school workers and family members.

Talking with CBS Morning News, Walensky noted that children are dying from COVID-19 at twice the rate of the flu.

"It is really important to understand that while children are not getting sick nearly at the rate as adults are, they're getting sick more than they would during a standard flu season and more deaths, indeed," she said.

Words in This Story

k-12 — n. schools from Kindergarten to 12th grade

substantial — adj. large in amount, size, or number

transmission — n. the act or process by which something is spread or passed from one person or thing to another

precaution — n. something that is done to prevent possible harm or trouble from happening in the future

mandate¹¹ — n. an official order to do something

county — n. an area of a state or country that is larger than a city and has its own government to deal with local matters

dose — n. the amount of a medicine, drug, or vitamin that is taken at one time

outreach — n. the activity or process of bringing information or services to people

1 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

2 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

4 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

5 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

6 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

11 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

12 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

13 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

14 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。