Post #56 Back-to-School Advice for the COVID-19 Delta Surge

It is with a mix of frustration and hope that I am writing a second back-to-school blog about COVID-19.  At this same time last year, there were so many unknowns about the pandemic and how to handle returning to school. The uncertainty led to fear, which in turn fueled a respect for the virus, which unfortunately is lacking in the current decision-making to ban mask mandates. The irony is we have so much more science and data than we did at this time last year that we could and should be smarter about our policies. Nonetheless, with some children vaccinated, and more to become eligible soon, this next school year should be better than the last. Make no mistake, COVID-19 is alive and kicking and stronger than ever, buttressed by the Delta variant - especially among those who are unvaccinated, which sadly include all children less than 12 years of age. If the vaccine were already available to all school-age children, it would make our decisions much easier to navigate – especially for those who want to immunize their children and mitigate COVID-19 risk. For those who do not plan to vaccinate their kids, the status quo isn ’t any different from a “choice” standpoint, but even these students would benefit from their peers being vaccinated as each shot administered brings the entire student body one step closer to herd immunity.  Unfortunately, we begin this school year with a large portion of our students ineligible for the vaccine, whic...
Source: A Pediatrician's Blog - Category: Pediatrics Source Type: blogs