Rochelle Walensky, who was appointed to serve as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks after US President-elect Joe Biden announced his team in charge of dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic at The Queen in Wilmington, Delaware , on December 8, 2020.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
Teachers do not need to be vaccinated against Covid-19 before schools can safely reopen, said the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday.
“There is growing data to suggest that schools can be reopened safely and that the safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated,” CDC principal Rochelle Walensky told reporters during a press conference at the White House on Covid -19.
“Vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for reopening schools safely,” he added.
The CDC’s Immunization Practices Advisory Committee voted to put “essential frontline workers”, who include teachers, next in line to receive a Covid-19 vaccine, after prioritizing health workers and health care facility residents. Long term. However, it may take a while for most teachers to take their injections, while US officials are working to increase the rate of vaccinations.
Still, school systems in the United States are under pressure to reopen after switching to remote learning last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, which infected more than 26.4 million Americans and killed at least 447,077 in just over one year. year.
Some parents were forced to stay at home to care for their children instead of working. Meanwhile, teachers and other teachers have expressed concern about returning to school, which could put their health at risk.
A CDC study published late last month found little evidence of the spread of the virus in schools in the United States and abroad when precautions were taken, such as wearing masks, social distance and room ventilation.
The Biden government launched a Covid rescue plan that includes providing $ 170 billion to schools and universities to reopen. The money would be used in part to increase testing. The government said the test is a “critical” strategy to control the spread of the virus, but additional tests are not yet widely available and the United States is not yet using those it already has effectively.
Walensky said earlier that schools should be the first to open and the last to close due to the pandemic.
Jeff Zients, President Joe Biden’s Covid-19 czar, said on Wednesday that Biden was “very clear” in saying that he wants schools to “reopen and remain open”.
“This means that each school has the equipment and resources to open safely,” he said during the news conference, urging Congress to “do its part” by approving Biden’s rescue plan for Covid. “Not just private schools or schools in wealthy areas, but all schools.”