A teacher walks through the classroom during a class at an elementary school in San Francisco, California
One of Joe Biden’s top priorities in his first 100 days in office is the reopening of schools amid the coronavirus pandemic. This Wednesday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym in English) assured that the establishments will be able to open safely without the need to vaccinate teachers.
“There is a growing body of data to suggest that schools can safely reopen and that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers should be vaccinated,” he said. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, during a press conference at the White House.
“The vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for the safe reopening of schools”added.
Jeff Zients, coordinator of the White House response to covid-19, remarked during the press conference that President Biden “has been very clear that he wants the schools to reopen and remain open.”
For that, he argued that all educational establishments must have “the equipment and resources to open safely.” Along these lines, he urged Congress to “do its part” by approving the rescue plan proposed by the Government. And he clarified: “Not just private schools or those in rich areas, but all schools.”
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Rochelle Walensky, CDC Director (REUTERS / Kevin Lamarque)
Previously, Walensky said that schools should be the first to open and the last to close in the context of the pandemic.
Last Friday the main epidemiologist of the United States Government, Anthony Fauci, expressed agreement with the program of reopening of schools presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As he indicated, the CDC’s claim “is based on data.”
“I would support the CDC’s recommendations because they really are based on data. We have to try to get children back to school and that is the goal of the president, Joe Biden “, said Fauci, in dialogue with the chain MSNBC.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the United States further explained that “A child is less likely to be infected in the school environment than in the community.”
Last week the CDC published a report in which they endorsed the reopening of schools as soon as possible if the measures of social distancing and the mandatory use of the mask were applied correctly. However, the researchers clarified that some indoor sports have led to infections and recommended that these should be reduced as much as possible so that schools can operate safely.
“The preponderance of the available evidence from the fall school semester has been reassuring … There was little evidence that schools contributed significantly to the increase in community transmission,” wrote three CDC researchers in a published opinion piece. at Journal of the American Medical Association.
“Decisions made today can help ensure the safe operation of schools and provide essential services to children and adolescents in the United States.”they added.
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Joe Biden’s priority is the reopening of schools in the US
Specifically, the CDC recommends that all schools implement the following measures: use of masks, distance of two meters between people, and that the same groups of students attend classes to limit the number of people who must be in quarantine in case of COVID cases.
The idea of Biden’s ambitious plan is to use rapid tests, the result of which is ready in minutes, and that it is the school employees themselves who do them. Therefore, previously there should be a training period for thousands of people throughout the country.
The idea stems from a recommendation from the Rockefeller Foundation, which conducted a study in all 50 states and determined that billions of dollars are needed to generate a massive testing network that particularly monitors schools.
The Government released a rescue plan that includes provide schools and universities with $ 170 billion to reopen. The money would be used in part to increase testing. However, these are not yet widely available to meet the enormous demand that will be required. Furthermore, the authorities are aware that so far the vaccination campaign has not been as effective as expected.
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