CDC director says vaccinated teachers not a 'prerequisite' for schools to reopen

[DonViejo]

Source: The Hill


BY JOHN BOWDEN - 02/14/21 11:14 AM EST

The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rochelle Walensky, reiterated Sunday that she doesn't believe all teachers need COVID-19 vaccines before returning to classrooms.

Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," Walensky was asked about concerns from teachers about returning to in-person learning, especially given that around 25 percent teachers are elderly or have comorbidities that could contribute to more severe infections.

"I'm a strong advocate of teachers receiving their vaccinations, but we don't believe it's a prerequisite for reopening schools," Walensky said, adding that CDC guidance stipulated that states should allow those at higher risk of serious COVID-19 infections to remain home for virtual learning until they can be vaccinated.

"We have in the guidance clear language that specifies that teachers that are at higher risk...teachers and students that are higher risk, and their families, should have options for virtual activities, virtual learning, virtual teaching,” she said.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/538815-cdc-director-says-teachers-vaccinated-not-a-prerequisite-for

---

Fauci: Stimulus bill needs to be passed for schools to reopen

BY JOSEPH CHOI - 02/14/21 11:00 AM EST


Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said on Sunday that a stimulus bill needed to be passed in order for schools to safely reopen.

While appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” Fauci spoke with host George Stephanopoulos about how schools could safely reopen, expanding on new guidelines that were recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“It's the first time that it’s been put down in a document based on scientific observations and data over the last several months to a year, both in the United States and elsewhere. Part of that is to indicate and to suggest strongly that a preference be given to teachers to get vaccinated,” Fauci said, though he added it was possible to reopen schools without having all teachers vaccinated beforehand.

When asked by Stephanopoulos if schools had the resources available to abide by the new CDC guidelines, Fauci said he did not believe so.

more
https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/538813-fauci-stimulus-bill-needs-to-be-passed-for-schools-to-reopen

[Chainfire]

1. It seems illogical to me to send teachers back to the classrooms

without providing them with vaccine protection. Do we consider teachers disposable? If they feel they need the shot to safely go back to teaching our children, I support them 100%.

It makes you wonder if someone did a cost/risk analysis and decided that it was OK to lose a few hundred or a few thousand teachers?

Anybody who has ever spent any time with a bunch of snotty-nosed kids, know that they will give you a cold in a second. If they transmit a cold, they can transmit the Covid......

[marble falls]

11. That would be logical to me. Why are we loopholing nationl health policy in the middle ...

... of a pandemic? Go ahead and prioritize teachers and students and get them all immunized first.

[Squinch]

2. Moron.

[wcast]

3. Except there is no requirement to protect teachers at higher risk.

No one cares if teachers die and when we are working from home we are told it’s too easy and we aren’t working as hard.

[live love laugh]

4. **'s leftover CDC? I question the credibility of their "expertise".

[niyad]

5. She is President Biden's appointee.

[live love laugh]

7. I think that's a bad decision. nt

[Lonestarblue]

8. I think she replaced Redfield.

I also questioned the earlier statements about delaying the second vaccine shots by several days or even weeks. Dr. Fauci did not seem to be in agreement, and while I’m certainly no expert, it would seem better to get the people in the first rounds (healthcare workers, the elderly, those with health issues) fully protected than to give more people a bit of protection that then leaves everyone with only partial protection. It’s also worrisome that the vaccines were never tested for efficacy with extensive delays in the second shots. I understand that the vaccines are still in short supply, but I’d rather we followed the recommendations that came from all the trial studies.

[live love laugh]

9. I agree. nt

[Blasphemer]

14. I also agree, especially because we are in an anti-vaxx moment in history...

Last edited Sun Feb 14, 2021, 08:21 PM - Edit history (1)

Bad decisions will add fuel to the fire and complicate public health messaging.

[niyad]

6. One of my friends has her whole family as teachers in one of hardest-hit areas of the country.

Comanche (??) county, OK. In her oldest daughter's school, 25 teachers and staff are currently out with the virus, as are 30 of her students. One school, one set of classes. Insane.

[Lucky Luciano]

18. Oklahoma...where people don't mask up properly.

Here in NYC, people mask up and the rules for safety are meticulously followed for in school learning. The transmission rate is extremely low. About 0.5% of kids got COVID and there was no evidence that any got infected at school. Any positive tests immediately caused online learning for that class. If two or more test positive, the whole school goes on line for two weeks. There were never any additional COVID cases after such quarantines which is good evidence of not transmitting in school. Note that windows are kept open even in the winter to keep up the ventilation.

OK and other super trumpy areas might be hard to trust enforcement.

[Dorian Gray]

35. Yes

NYC has done this well, but having said that, middle schools and high schools have not been in person since November, and we have friends whose kids go to school 2x a week... and would like more.

It's tough to navigate.

But we've done it really well.


Having said that, there are a number of kids who are not being served well by hybrid or remote learning, and there will be difficulty getting them caught up over the next few years. It will be a real problem, nationwide.

[MichMan]

10. As the authority on pandemics, the CDC knows what is safe and what isn't

[Rebl2]

12. Seems like

a mistake to me. There may be teachers who care for others who are more at risk, like parents, children or a spouse. Also there may be many teachers who are at risk at well because of medical problems. In my area there was a couple that were teachers and they got Covid as well as their college age children. The couple died this last week on the same day and were in a room together at the hospital. Their young adult children are now doing better, but now are trying to figure out what to do next. Hopefully they have relatives close by to help them out. The mother was a special Ed teacher and I think that district she taught in has been in school a good deal of this year.

[Blasphemer]

13. Absurd. If schools reopen, teachers would be on the frontline

And just like any other frontline essential worker would need to be prioritized for vaccination. I know families are struggling with online education (my relatives included) but I am happy that the teachers' unions have been standing their ground to look out for the best interests of teachers.

[Dorian Gray]

36. Are they

not being prioritized? Here in NY they've been eligible for over a month. My husband is having dose two on friday. (He's a high school teacher.)

[DeminPennswoods]

15. In Pennsylvania, there are specific guidelines based

on community spread. For example, if testing is 5% positive or below, it's safe to open for all students. My local school districts fall into the moderate spread, so they are on hybrid schedules half in school and half virtual while adhering to the CDC guidelines on mask wearing, distancing and cleaning. We have 1 district that is full time in school, but that's because the school was built for 4x s as many students as it currently has - so plenty of room for everyone to spread out.

The CDC director said that, but too indirectly.

[benld74]

16. THAT document seriously needs an update

[Hekate]

17. When she spoke a few weeks ago I heard so many caveats between the lines ...

I was really bothered by that. There were too many “ifs” for my comfort. The first two are a no-brainer, but the rest are too reliant on too many variables, especially local money.

IF everyone wears a mask all the time
IF everyone washes their hands all the time

IF schools are sanitized — by whom? are they healthy? with what supplies? with what training? how often? We’re not talking about a quick mop and emptying the wastebaskets any more.
IF school HVAC systems are modern and in good repair — who determines that? who pays for inspection? what if overhaul or reinstallation is necessary? how is this arranged, certified, and paid for?

So sure, we can all go about our normal lives — IF.

And all of this begs the question of feeding hungry children. Will there still be nutrition programs in school at all? Lunch? Breakfast? Something like 1 in 7 families are hungry.

[Lucky Luciano]

19. Those IFs are critical to the success of in school learning.

It is working in NYC. Can the morons in trumpy parts of the country do this?

[Hekate]

22. Exactly. Florida's gov just said the COVID variants are only in blue states. Idiot.

Response should have been Federal from the beginning. It’s going to be sheer hell getting compliance now.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

20. I stand with teachers unions.

And I think Biden will, too.

[ancianita]

21. +1,000,000

If people need babysitting, they make teachers go back.
If people need educations for their kids, they trust teachers' judgment over some CDC.

The greatness of this country's people is owed to teachers. If the country won't respect their lives and liberty, then the country deserves j.o.b. babysitters, which is just fine with the rich who don't want quality education for the rest of us.

We're so close to having teachers vaccinated, that, at this point, pressure to open schools should simply stop.

[melm00se]

23. The CDC issued this

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/science-and-research/transmission_k_12_schools.html

which includes the following quote

Based on the data available, in-person learning in schools has not been associated with substantial community transmission.

[SWBTATTReg]

24. Teachers have been leaving the teaching profession due to this very reason, some jurisdictions

are so out of it in dealing w/ the CV epidemic, that they are fleeing the profession. Some school districts are having trouble finding enough teachers for staffing purposes. Are these people even paying attention to news reports, etc.?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

25. Where do they go? Retire? Teach elsewhere?

It seems like a tough job, but with good retirement benefits (probably depending on the strength of the union local). Not easy to walk away from, in mid-career.

[SWBTATTReg]

29. Yeah, you would think that, but it's happening. But, like you said, it's hard to walk away from,

probably why we haven't seen it as much as one might think. But I do know of some teachers who have walked away, got into other professions. It's sad, but I think across many job categories, the CV is changing things, e.g., my other half at Home Depot have noticed tons of extra sick time, extra time off, extra vacation, etc.

Extra note: And Home Depot has quit hiring. From what we heard, they quit so they could protect their already hired workers from CV outbreaks.

[GOPistheEnemy]

26. Makes no sense to me, after Dr's, Nurses, First Responders, high risk people

then TEACHERS, Grocery Store and Pharmacy Workers, Transportation Workers should all be next on the list. May have missed some too.

I have been lucky through all this, I could work from home and I been able to save tons of money because I stopped going out and not commuting for almost a year now. I would gladly give my place in the shot line so a teacher could get one first. Yes I could have gotten one already, and I will but I am in no hurry, others need it before me sitting safe at home.

Same with the COVID Cash, I should not get a frigging dime, no disruption of income, give the money only to those who lost jobs due to COVID. I got some donated most of it.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

31. Your suggested hierarchy of precedence makes a lot of sense. Problem I have with it, ...

... if you extend the logic, then I, a retired 74-year-old, should get pushed to the very end, after those you mentioned, plus parents, students, anyone who has a job or who is looking for a job.

I'm in a sort of high-risk group, but since we're past the point of contributing to the economy, since we're basically "takers" for the rest of our lives, we should be the last to get the vaccine,, if there's any left over before the next round (annual?).

Personally, I'd like to get mine soonest, just as everyone else would like to get theirs even more soonestly.

[GOPistheEnemy]

34. There was no attempt to make a real working list

Guess I should have added the elderly with high risk but seems like anyone over 70 in my parts are eligible along with the high risk people and those in nursing homes so it did not occur to me diferente. My spouse is high risk and is eligible now as am I because we live together. I am not high risk. Not elderly but not to far off either. But what is really elderly now days? If you did not know your age how old would you act?

[MichMan]

27. So, now the CDC is not to be trusted?

Aren't their decisions based on science?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

32. Based on science, yes, but ...

... science is presented in a political framework.

I trust the CDC. The very upper reaches would seem to be political appointees, but the vast majority are dedicated scientists. Some would call them part of the "Deep State" as if there's something wrong with that.

[MichMan]

33. The CDC director was appointed by President Biden

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

28. He obviously has no members in his family who are teachers.

There is a vaccine available. Use it.

[theaocp]

30. It's a needless risk.

I can’t get a vaccine and I’m an elementary teacher. Then, there’s my wife, who I’d prefer to vaccinate, too. Seems fair. Instead of this weird push, I recommend changing the message to making sure all teachers and their families are vaccinated since that’s the right move.

I hope I can get my vaccine soon. I’ve been waiting in line for weeks.