CDC boss: Teacher vaccination not necessary to reopen
Some Mass. teachers agree
Schools can reopen safely even if teachers do not get a coronavirus vaccine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said, and some Massachusetts teachers agree.
“There is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen and that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated in order to reopen safely,” Walensky said in a Wednesday press briefing.
Teachers in Massachusetts are still waiting their turn in line for vaccination and have pushed Gov. Charlie Baker for prioritization.
Still, American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts President Beth Kontos agreed that vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for safely reopening schools “and never has been.”
“We agree with the CDC that safely reopening schools for in-person learning is possible if proper safety measures are in place and community COVID-19 transmission levels are low,” Kontos said in a statement.
But Kontos said many educators are now back in the classroom amid high levels of community transmission, adding, “We won’t be able to return all students to the classroom safely until community levels of COVID-19 transmission are reduced.”
Merrie Najimy, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, said, “Our position and the CDC’s have been consistent all along. School reopening decisions are made at the local level based on conditions on the ground.”
She added that along with other safety measures, “vaccinating educators will also be a big step toward protecting educators, and we hope it will lead to more schools being able to open to more students.”
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as well as Baker have long said schools are safe and have pushed for inperson learning models.
When asked about Walensky’s comments, Colleen Quinn, spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Education, said, “The latest finding from the CDC that schools are safe, do not contribute to significant virus spreading and that vaccinating teachers is not required to safely reopen schools is consistent with everything the BakerPolito Administration has recommended for school districts since the Department issued the reopening guidance last summer.”
Vaccine rollout in Massachusetts continues to inch along. Teachers and other school staff will be included in Phase 2 of the plan.
‘We agree with the CDC that safely reopening schools for in-person learning is possible if proper safety measures are in place and community COVID-19 transmission levels are low.’
BETH KONTOS American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts President