Posted on 07/26/21
| News Source: The Hill
Conflicting mask recommendations and orders from all levels of government and advocacy groups have emerged over the past few weeks, flustering the public as back-to-school season approaches.
Confusion is mounting over whether children should wear masks in school and whether their vaccination status should play a role in any guidance ahead of next month, when many schools plan to fully reopen for in-person learning.
President Biden addressed the debate this week, saying during a Wednesday town hall that he expects the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to urge unvaccinated students to wear masks in schools and to continue to advise vaccinated students that they don’t need masks.
“The CDC is going to say that what we should do is, everyone under the age of 12 should probably be wearing a mask in school,” Biden said at the town hall, as those under 12 years old are currently ineligible to get vaccinated.
But the American Academy of Pediatrics issued contradictory recommendations days before, calling for all students older than 2 t o wear masks in school, regardless of their vaccination status.
The organization said many students can’t get vaccinated and that most schools are not planning to track the vaccination status of the children, although it noted that it “strongly recommends in-person learning.”
Mark Schleiss, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School, supports requiring masks for all children despite their vaccination status, saying that children make up an increasing percentage of new cases as more adults and seniors are vaccinated.